http://www.usatoday.com/…

Here’s a glimpse at the future of aviation security: Airline passenger Natalie Miller steps into a glass booth at a checkpoint. She raises her arms. Within moments, a screener asks what is in her back pocket.

Miller is puzzled because she dumped all of her possessions into a plastic bin before entering the booth. Or so she thought. When she reaches into her back pocket, she finds a credit card she left there.

“That’s pretty cool,” Miller says of the incident Thursday at Tulsa International Airport, shortly after the screener waved her through. “I thought the machines just detected metal.”

Not anymore. The 35-year reign of airport metal detectors began its slow descent this week in Tulsa, where for the first time some passengers are skipping metal detectors. People are instead being screened in a 9-foot-high portal with glass shields that rotate to produce vivid pictures of what is underneath passengers’ clothing.

As the TSA expands its test for airports in San Francisco, Miami, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City and Albuquerque in coming weeks, it will be listening to passengers’ reactions.

Miller, 34, a sales representative from St. Louis, had no concerns. “It makes me feel a little safer,” she said, taking “maybe a few seconds longer – not a big deal.”

Tulsa Airport Director Jeff Mulder watched Wednesday when the body scanner was first used and saw little passenger objection or slowdown. “It looked like a relatively normal flow,” Mulder said.

But passenger Jim Lesterhold said the body scanner took twice as long as a metal detector takes. “If you were in a crowded airport, it would really slow things up,” said Lesterhold, 50, a Houston engineer.

[speaking of the images] “They are not pornographic at all,” Tulsa screener Debbie Shacklett said. “I don’t look at them as people. I look at them as a thing that could have something on it.”

Well… there you have it. The screening is “cool”, makes people feel safer, and is “not a big deal.” Not that it matters. The TSA agents don’t see the passengers as people anyway and therefore do as they please. “Steigen Sie in das Eisenbahnauto ein! In den Ofen!”

OK… I’m being hyperbolic but that statement is a bit startling. Treating people like things is exactly why we are in these situations.

Got this from the Bob Barr 2008 campaign this morning:

Last Friday I wrote you with a clever message soliciting an $8 gift for the Bob Barr for President campaign._ It was, after all, 8-8-08 and I figured perhaps an appeal to your superstitious side may work.

But unless our computer is wrong, it didn’t._ I’ll admit it, my feelings were hurt – a little.

So today I write to tell you about how good fortune has fallen on several of our supporters who wrote to tell us what happened after giving their first $8 in support of Bob Barr.

__ _+ + +__ _Larry J. of Miami won the Florida Lottery and can now afford to give much more.

___ + + +__ _Karen T. of Seattle reports meeting the man of her dreams and thinks this could lead to a beautiful marriage and a lifetime of happiness.

__ _+ + + __ _John M. of San Antonio told us that his warts suddenly disappeared.

__ _+ + +__ _Kyle G. of Nashville writes that all of the weeds in his yard had disappeared.

__ _+ + +__ _Kevin B. of Akron says that after six months of unemployment, he’s got a job.

__ _+ + +__ _And Alan C. of Portland met the woman of his dreams…in Seattle.

Think of what you may have missed out on….

OK, I’ll admit it, I made all of this up._ But I’m not going to give up._ Shane Cory, our deputy campaign manager who has a cubicle next door to mine, suggested I sweeten the deal.

So here it is._ Five bucks from you today and I’ll send you a Bob Barr bumper sticker absolutely free._ (Shane wanted me to double the offer like that guy on TV selling cleaning products, but come on, this IS SERIOUS business.)

Come on, $5 is not much more than the cost of one of those fancy coffees from Starbucks._ In fact, $5 is less than lunch at McDonalds…and besides, do you really want those calories and fat grams?_ To donate, click here: https://www.bobbarr2008.com/donate/?c=bb0816

Please, $5 today – and I’ll never nag you again._ Thanks.

Sincerely,

Robert Stuber, the official Bob Barr beggar

This isn’t the only donation solictitation I’ve seen from the Barr campaign with this type of pathetic plea. He’s not alone though. McCain’s campaign has sent out a few emails that are almost as sad.

Barr is going to be in NYC this upcoming Monday. I’m not yet sure if I’ll be attending. I’ve been saying he still needs to convince me to vote for him… perhaps this is his chance. What I do know is he’s not getting the $250 VIP donation required so I may hang out for an hour before he mingles with the regular fokes.

http://www.bethechangeinc.org/…

ServiceNation Summit Co-chairs:

• Vartan Gregorian, President, Carnegie Corporation of New York
  
• Caroline Kennedy, Vice-Chair, New York City Fund For Public Schools
  
• Bill Novelli, CEO, AARP
  
• Alma Powell, Chair, America’s Promise Alliance
  
• Rick Stengel, Managing Editor, TIME Magazine

ServiceNation Leadership Council:

• Andi Bernstein
• Tom A. Bernstein, President and Co-founder, Chelsea Piers
• Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor, New York, NY; Chairman, National September 11 Memorial and Museum
• Cory Booker, Mayor, Newark, NJ
• Richard H. Brodhead, President, Duke University
• Neil Bush, CEO, Global XS
• Geoffrey Canada, President and CEO, Harlem Children’s Zone
• Mortimer Caplin, Former Commissioner, Internal Revenue Service
• Vice Admiral Richard Carmona, Former U.S. Surgeon General
• Jean Case, CEO, The Case Foundation
• Richard Celeste, President, Colorado College
• Ray Chambers, Amelior Foundation
• Richard Cizik, Vice President, National Association of Evangelicals
• Glenn Close, Actress
• William Cohen, Former Secretary of Defense; Former U.S. Senator
• Janet Langhart Cohen, Author; Founder, Citizen Patriot Organization
• Scott Cowen, President, Tulane University
• Tom Daschle, Former U.S. Senator
• John J. DeGioia, President, Georgetown University
• Manny Diaz, Mayor, Miami, FL
• John Dilulio, Former Director, Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives; Author, The Godly Republic
• Melinda Doolittle, Recording Artist
• Paul Fireman, Founder, Reebok
• Al From, Founder and CEO, Democratic Leadership Council
• Susan Fuhrman, President, Teachers College, Columbia University
• Mark Gearan, President, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
• David Gergen, Professor of Public Service and Director, Center for Public Leadership, Harvard University
• Michael Gerson, Columnist, The Washington Post
• Stephen Goldsmith, Former Mayor, Indianapolis, IN
• Jennifer Granholm, Governor, Michigan
• Rabbi Irving Greenberg, Theologian; Author, The Jewish Way; Founding President, Jewish Life Network
• Amy Gutmann, President, University of Pennsylvania
• Lee Hamilton, Former Congressman; Former Co-chair, 9/11 Commission and Iraq Study Group
• Jenny Chin Hansen, President, AARP
• Gary Hart, Former U.S. Senator
• Admiral James R. Hogg, USN (Ret), Director, Strategic Studies Group, Naval War College
• James J. Jensen
• Martin Luther King, III, Chairman, Realizing the Dream
• Joel Klein, Chancellor, New York City Public Schools
• Sherry Lansing, Founder, The Sherry Lansing Foundation
• Jim Leach, Former Congressman; John L. Weinberg Professor of Public and International Affairs, Woodrow   Wilson School, Princeton University
• Anthony Marx, President, Amherst College
• Bonnie McElveen-Hunter, Chairman, American Red Cross
• Sam Nunn, Former U.S. Senator
• Michael Nutter, Mayor, Philadelphia, PA
• Martin O’Malley, Governor, Maryland
• Lt. General Dave R. Palmer, USA (Ret), Former Superintendent, U.S. Military Academy at West Point; Author
• David Paterson, Governor, New York
• Kal Penn, Actor
• Gregg Petersmeyer, Former Assistant to the President; Director, Office of National Service under George H.W. Bush
• Peter G. Peterson, Founder and Chairman, Peter G. Peterson Foundation; Co-founder, Blackstone Group Management
• Rob Portman, Former Congressman; Former Director, Office of Management and Budget
• Samantha Power, Anna Lindh Professor of Practice of Global Leadership and Public Policy, Harvard University; Author
• Marc Racicot, Former Governor, Montana
• Susan Rice, Foreign Policy Advisor, Obama for America
• Bill Richardson, Governor, New Mexico
• David Shaw, Managing Partner, Black Point Group
• Rodney Slater, Former Secretary of Transportation; Chair, United Way of America
• Laurie M. Tisch, President, Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund
• Paul Vallas, Superintendent, New Orleans Recovery School District
• David Walker, President and CEO, Peter G. Peterson Foundation
• Silda Wall, Founder, Children For Children
• Rick Warren, Senior Pastor, Saddleback Church; Author, A Purpose Driven Life
• Harris Wofford, Former U.S. Senator; Former CEO, Corporation for National & Community Service

Is it surprising that a large portion of those in support are directly or indirectly government bureaucrats?

http://cnnwire.blogs.cnn.com/…

The Internal Revenue Service is taking the unprecedented step of seeking Swiss bank records in search of what it suspects could be up to $20 billion worth of assets hidden by U.S. taxpayers.

Justice Department lawyers said late Monday that they had filed court documents in Miami asking a judge to allow the IRS to get information from the banking giant UBS. U.S. investigators are seeking permission for the first time to serve what are called “John Doe” summons to obtain information about possible tax fraud against taxpayers whose identities are not known.

Information stemming from a guilty plea by a former UBS banker last week in Miami suggests the Zurich-based bank had “undeclared” accounts of U.S. taxpayers estimated at about $20 billion. U.S. tax laws require any accounts abroad worth more than $10,000 to be reported — and penalties call for up to half of the amount in a hidden account to be forfeited.

The U.S. government is trying to cooperate with the Swiss government and the bank, Deputy Assistant Attorney General John DiCicco said. But he added, “We are prepared to seek enforcement if that process is not successful.”

Enforcement? What the hell does that mean? World court or troops? It’s sad the latter is the first I think of.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…

The D.C. police department’s decision to arm patrol officers with semiautomatic rifles is promoted by commanders as a way to stay ahead of criminals. But it is raising concerns among civil rights groups and others, who question whether the weapons are necessary.Hundreds of officers will be issued AR-15 rifles starting this summer, and police say the guns will be a better match for criminals. Although Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier was unable to provide an example of when such firepower would have been needed in the recent past, she said police should not be caught off guard.

Police have about 500 of the weapons, and 352 officers have been trained to use them. Special units have used high-power guns for years, but officials said they wanted more officers to have access to the weapons. This is the first time AR-15s will be available for routine street patrols.

“We want to be prepared,” Lanier said. “I want officers to have what they need to be safe.”

Funny. These officers need bigger guns so as to keep them safer yet DC has what amounts to gun prohibition laws for the general public. There seems to be a bit of a disconnect here. Why is it that Joe Q. Public isn’t allowed “to have what they need to be safe?” And why should the police need to be safer? Wasn’t the point of the gun control legislation to reduce gun crime? If it’s so effective what’s with all the gun crime they need to match? If it’s not working why fight at the Supreme Court to keep it?

Perhaps because what they want is more power? A police state as it were.

The city got the AR-15 rifles from the Department of Defense for free as military surplus items.

Other police departments nationwide equip officers with semiautomatic rifles, including in Dallas, Los Angeles and Miami.

Although the overwhelming majority of D.C. homicides are committed with handguns, criminals have used powerful guns in recent years in some high-profile cases in the Washington area. A team of commando-style robbers carried out a string of bank heists in the District and Maryland in 2004, armed with assault rifles and handguns. At the time, police feared the crimes could be fatal, but the robbers were caught before anyone was seriously hurt.

Lanier referenced a 1997 bank robbery in Los Angeles, in which two men armed with AK-47 assault rifles engaged in a shootout with police. Seventeen officers and civilians were injured in the incident, which was captured on videotape. The case set off a debate about the need to better arm police.

Yes, because that kind of thing happens every day so they need to be carrying these AR-15s on their person during patrol. As for the 1997 robbery I’ve never understood how it is that there was no openings in their body armor. A hunter with a half way decent rifle should have been able to hit them at some junction in the armor. The foot or face/neck.

Assistant Police Chief Patrick Burke, who is in charge of special operations and homeland security, said protocols are being put in place to cover the use of the rifles and promised that officers will be “accountable for every shot.”

Just like they are held accountable now? Tell that to the Bell family,  Mark McCullaugh Jr.’s family, Tracy Ingle, and the hundreds of others who are attacked and fail to find justice.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/03/27/business/drone.php

The Miami police could soon use cutting-edge flying drones to help fight crime.

A small pilotless vehicle manufactured by Honeywell International, capable of hovering and “staring” using electro-optic or infrared sensors, is expected to be introduced soon in the skies over the Florida Everglades.

If use of the drone wins U.S. Federal Aviation Administration approval after tests, the Miami-Dade Police Department will start flying the 14 pound, or 6.35 kilogram, drone over urban areas with an eye toward full-fledged employment in crime fighting.

“Our intentions are to use it only in tactical situations as an extra set of eyes,” said Detective Juan Villalba, a police department spokesman.

“We intend to use this to benefit us in carrying out our mission,” he added, saying the wingless Honeywell aircraft, which fits into a backpack and is capable of vertical takeoff and landing, seems ideally suited for use by SWAT teams in hostage situations or dealing with “barricaded subjects.”

And the Miami-Dade police are not alone. Taking their lead from the U.S. military, which has used drones in Iraq and Afghanistan for years, law enforcement agencies across the United States have voiced a growing interest in using drones for domestic crime-fighting missions.

Not that the Posse Comitatus Act is really in effect anymore but many people still believe that the military can’t be used for policing domestically. Well those pushing for a fascist police state have figured out how to get around that. Make the police like the military instead.

And really… as if this will stop crime. It will only escalate it. Any crime it stops a petty thief has given up will be made up by the professionals in severity.