Texas City Police Detain Reporter
Galveston Daily News reporter
was detained Monday for 45 minutes after he refused to show police the pictures he had taken of workers tending to an oil spill. Most of the pictures were taken from a street corner.
Cpl. Tom Robison of the Texas City Police Department, who is also the city’s contact with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, said the police department’s policy is to detain anyone photographing the city’s chemical plants. Police then review photos to see if they pose any threat but do not confiscate cameras or photographs.
“There’s no law that says you can’t take pictures from a public roadway, but the issue becomes: Are any of the shots compromising security measures?” Robison said.
Daily News photographer Kevin M. Cox said he took all but nine of his 36 photos of the oil leak on Marathon Oil Co. property while standing near 14th Street at Eighth Avenue. The remainder he shot a couple feet within an unsecured grassy field, he said.
There is no law because the pictures were taken from a public place, and we have a constitution that is supposed to provide freedom of the press, and freedom from unreasonable search and seizure. Perhaps what was really going on is that the Texas City Police were working harder protect the embarrassment of the big refinery, at the expense of the rights of the photographer.
One might be curious how these things are handled in nearby communities:
Steve Gonzales, director of photography for the Houston Chronicle for the past three years, said his staff has never been stopped by law enforcement asking to see pictures of breaking news events, including the recent crane collapse at a Pasadena plant.
Officials with Houston affiliates NBC, CBS and ABC said police haven’t asked to review video footage and they haven’t shown raw video to police before broadcast.
“We’re pretty strict about that in the newsroom,” said Rick McFarland, assistant news director for KPRC Local 2, the Houston NBC affiliate. “No one from law enforcement can see it without a subpoena, and even with a subpoena, we’ll have our First Amendment attorney fight it in court.”
But the Galveston daily news is a small local paper and can't put up the same big fight that the Houston media can. The Texas City Police know this.
To protect and to Serve? Yeah sure, as long as your a big refiner they will do all they can to protect their privacy in an embarrassing moment.
Labels: News
Censorship in Memphis
Memphis police have a leak in their department. Someone is
blogging about the family department secrets and the
department doesn't like it at all.
Memphis Police Director Larry Godwin and the city of Memphis have filed a lawsuit to learn who operates a blog harshly critical of Godwin and his department.
The lawsuit asks AOL to produce all information related to the identity of an e-mail address linked to MPD Enforcer 2.0, a blog popular with police officers that has been extremely critical of police leadership at 201 Poplar.
These things typically don't turn out to well for the government agencies. The suits give the blogs more attention, and the departments just look like they have something to hide. Perhaps Larry Godwin should have paid attention to the
GISD watch fiasco .
Labels: News, Politics
Does Martha Find this Funny?
Anyone want to make a bet that Eliot Spitzer doesn't get any jail time? Yet he insisted that there should be no deals for Martha Stuart.
Labels: News, Politics
Obama Flying the Chavez Banner in Houston
I have been thinking that nothing could be worse than the Billerys as President. I've spoke to a few people who were thinking the same. They were of the belief that we know how horrible the Clintons are and that Obama can't possibly be worse. Maybe they are wrong.
The Houston campaign Headquarters is flying high and proud a Cuban Flag with an image of
Marxist Revolutionary Che Guevara emboldened upon it.
This isn't the first time Obama has had flag issues. He refused to wear the
flag lapel pin, and he refused to
salute the flag in another incident. Apparently he has now found a flag that he can respect.
Could this be the type of change he has been talking about?
Update: 2/18/08
The
Lone Star Times has more. Pictures and everything.
Labels: News, Politics
Alvarado not the Poster Child
Not long ago Carol Alvarado was ensconced in a huge
bonus scandal, as Mayor Protem she was handing out illegal payroll bonuses like they were candy.
Houston Mayor Pro Tem Carol Alvarado temporarily stepped down Monday pending the outcome of a grand jury investigation on four of her office employees who were suspended in a bonus scandal, KPRC Local 2 reported. She will remain on City Council.Alvarado's announcement came the same day a report was released that said employees Rosie Hernandez, Florence Watkins, Christopher May and Teresa Orta improperly received more than $130,000 in bonuses in 2005.The Office of Inspector General said its investigation revealed "sufficient evidence to conclude that the four employees, in fact, received incentive bonuses and/or salary increases that were not approved or obtained in accordance with existing city policy and rules." The matter has been referred to the Harris County District Attorney's Office for review."The OIG (found) violations of city law. Those employees violated laws of the city, ordinances of the city, which prohibit employees of the city from using their official position to advantage themselves or others," Houston Mayor Bill White said.
White said that there are actions under way to prevent similar abuses in the future. Administrative functions of the mayor pro tem's office will be reduced, he said.
Typically in Houston City politics, getting caught red handed isn't enough to keep from getting re-elected. This is why cities like Houston have term limits and Alvarado is a poster child on why cities have enacted term limits. Ms Alverado doesn't like it much. While Anne Linehan comments on seems to think
Alvarado's legacy and service.
No one can say Ms. Alvarado lacks self-esteem. But she should look on the bright side -- Houston's loss is the state's gain. And she left a lasting mark on Houston, since the mayor pro tem's office will never be the same. That's called a legacy!
...
Unclear is how Ms. Edwards' stances on HPD (increasing manpower = police state!) and the homeless (they should be allowed to bathe in the libraries!) will enhance Houston's quality of life.
Anne also notes a Houston Chronical
op-ed piece authored by Ms. Alverado where she whines about losing her job. I've never been a been a big fan of term limits, but the service of Carol Alvarado does present a good example of why they might be a good idea.
Labels: News, Politics
Say it ain't so.
Clemens
While, I wrote
earlier about my thoughts on this.
GaryVarvel expresses our sentiments well
Labels: News
Not So Quite Hushmail
Maybe we just can't trust anyone anymore. Hushmail has long been considered one the most secure ways of communicating., They even advertise their service as a protection against government surveillance.
In some countries, government sponsored projects have been set up to collect massive amounts of data from the Internet, including emails, and store them away for future analysis. This data collection is done without any search warrant, court order, or subpoena. One example of such a program was the FBI's Carnivore project. By using Hushmail, you can be assured that your data will be protected from that kind of broad government surveillance.
There were some emails the U.S government wanted to look at and it looks like the Hushmail just turned it right over to them. Well, they turned it over to the Canadiens who then turned it over to the American DEA.
Hushmail claims to offer unreadable email as it uses PGP encryption technology and a company specific key management system that it says will ensure only the sender and recipient can read the emails. However it seems the Canadian company has been divulging keys to the American authorities.
The document describes the tracking of an anabolic steroid manufacturer who was being investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The document alleges that the majority of those engaged in the trade in anabolic steroids use Hushmail to communicate.
The DEA agents received three CDs of decrypted emails which contained decrypted emails for the targets of the investigation that had been decrypted as part of a mutual legal assistance treaty between the United States and Canada.
Thats right, it wasn't about terrorist, or narcotics. It was about steroids. I got to wonder if there is any privacy over the net any more. My real concern though is if whether we've tipped off any Islamic Terrorist that might be using Hushmail. The government showing its hand over something petty like seems silly. It does confirm our belief that the government is more concerned about the war on drugs than they are about the war on folks who are trying to blow us up.
You can't trust anyone anymore.
Update: More details on how they did it can be found on Wired
Labels: News, Politics, Tech
Paper Trails
We were promised the paperless office, maybe even a paperless society. Our utopian world would leave the trees for the huggers. It sounds good, but humans like the ability to be able to personally hand off and recieve information. To hold it in our hands to peruse over it is somehow comforting. The most important thing about paper is that it is physical. It can be altered annotated and signed, and it can be stored and examined years later without relying on any equipment more sophisticated than a candle or reading lamp.
It looks like Congress is
making a move to require a real paper trail for federal elections. Sounds like a good idea.
Labels: News, Politics
10% of Texans have Warrants out on Them
!0% percent of all Texans have outstanding warrants out on them. Is it that Texans are so prone to criminal behavior.
Grits for Breakfast explains how traffic fines that folks can't afford can get some not so bad folks arrested.
That's not just overcriminalized, that's the kind of bizarro figures one expects to hear in true totalitarian states.
I agree.
Labels: News
What isn't in the News.
I've been watching the news over th last couple of days. and the coverage of the English bombings or at least the attempts have been nonstop. Like many folks I'm looking to here the latest details. Here is one detail that Fox news didn't see fit to cover:
HERO CABBIE: I KICKED BURNING TERRORIST SO HARD IN BALLS THAT I TORE A TENDON
HERO CABBIE..
By Karen Bale
A HERO cabbie who took on the Glasgow Airport terror suspects told yesterday how he booted one of them in the privates.
Alex McIlveen, 45, kicked the man, whose body was in flames, so hard that he tore a tendon in his foot.
But he said last night: "He didn't even flinch. I couldn't believe he didn't go down.
"A doctor told me later I'd damaged a tendon in my foot."
The burned suspect was named last night as Khalid Ahmed, a Lebanese doctor.
He is critically ill with burns at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley, where he is believed to have worked.
I hope that Khalid Ahmed actually survives this. And that those burns cause him much pain while he spends the rest of life in prison. Living in this one case might be the most suitable punishment Khalid. Maybe those who are in charge of giving him his meds will just flush them away. As a doctor he will surely understand what he is in for.
Labels: News
A Clouds Silver Lining
Behind ever cloud is a silver lining.
Hamas has taken over Gaza the last few day. Looting and destruction is pretty much what we would expect from them. There are
reports they raided Arafat's home and that they stole his Nobel Peace Prize.
Enraged Fatah leaders on Saturday accused Hamas militiamen of looting the home of former Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat in Gaza City.
"They stole almost everything inside the house, including Arafat's Nobel Peace Prize medal," said Ramallah-based Fatah spokesman Ahmed Abdel Rahman. "Hamas militiamen and gangsters blew up the main entrance to the house before storming it. They stole many of Arafat's documents and files, gifts he had received from world leaders and even his military outfits."
Abdel Rahman said the attackers also raided the second floor of the house and stole the personal belongings of his widow, Suha, and daughter, Zahwa. "They stole all the widow's clothes and shoes," he added. "They also took Arafat's pictures with his daughter."
I hope this makes Yitzhak Rabin's and Shimon Perez's prize all the more precious to their familys.
Labels: News
Chinese calling the US Irresponsible
Whether it's poisoned cat food, tainted fish, or contaminated toothpaste, it should be obvious that to any Chicom supporter that the Chicoms have shoddy manufacturing practices. Instead of shutting down the plants and investigating the Chinese are
calling fowl. If an American company were poison Americans they would get shut immediately. The Chicoms apparently believe they have a right to distribute tothpaste tainted with diethylene glycol in the United States. Maybe they believe if they have a right to torture and kill their own people poisoning our people just a little bit should be OK.
China has branded a U.S. warning against using its toothpaste as irresponsible, saying low levels of diethylene glycol (DEG) were not harmful. "So far we have not received any report of death resulting from using the toothpaste. The U.S. handling (of this case) is neither scientific nor responsible," China's General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said in a statement posted on its Web site over the weekend.
"All the toothpaste exported to the United States had been registered by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for marketing in the States."
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued the warning on Friday after toothpaste containing DEG was detected in a shipment seized at the border.
The seizure was the most recent in a series of scares over the safety of locally made products which have put China's food and drug exports under scrutiny around the world.
Similarly contaminated toothpaste has been seized across Latin America, and in Panama, the government says at least 100 people died after taking cough syrup that contained DEG, an industrial solvent used in paint and antifreeze.
The FDA identified products by Goldcredit International Enterprises Ltd., Goldcredit International Trading Co. Ltd., and Suzhou City Jinmao Daily Chemicals Co. Ltd as containing DEG. Brands include Cooldent, Clean Rite and Oralmax and are usually found at discount retailers, the FDA said.
"It is not allowed. There are restrictions limiting its use," said an employee at Suzhou City Jinmao Daily Chemicals on Saturday, when asked about DEG.
Over 100 people died from Chinese cough syrup, and we are accused of overreacting by taking contaminated product off the market. Perhaps just the fact that they believe its an overreaction is cause to embargo any petfoods, foodstuffs, medicines or such. We are perfectly capable of getting by without these toxic Chicom goods.
Labels: China, News
