Policing Porn Isn't Part of The Job 592
Rick Zeman wrote to mention a Washington Post article about an incident at a Bethesda library. Two uniformed men from a Homeland Security detachment made an announcement stating that pornography was not acceptable viewing at the library. They then questioned a patron's choice of reading material. From the article: "A librarian intervened, and the two men went into the library's work area to discuss the matter. A police officer arrived. In the end, no one had to step outside except the uniformed men. They were officers of the security division of Montgomery County's Homeland Security Department, an unarmed force that patrols about 300 county buildings -- but is not responsible for enforcing obscenity laws."
Free news articles (Score:2, Informative)
Google news [google.com]
Re:Free news articles (Score:3, Informative)
Mozilla/5.0 (compatible; googlebot/2.1; +http://www.google.com/bot.html [google.com])
A lot of registration-only news sites will let you in as googlebot. After all, they want to be indexed...Oh, and don't put in the [google.com] slashdot autolink bit.
Re:Porn @ the Library (Score:2, Informative)
Now adults technically have a right to look at pr0n over at the Library, which baffles me. I am a big advocate of getting recessed monitor desks. They're the perfect solution. Patrons can look at whatever they want to on the terminals, other patrons and staff can't. Unfortunately, they run like $500 a piece, which tends to be cost prohibitive.
Re:Free news articles (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Wow.. (Score:3, Informative)
After 9/11, pretty much every state got some homeland security/anti-terror stuff going (my freshly-retired aunt worked for the state I grew up in, and I think wound up with ties to their anti-terror folks, since she dealt with things terrorists like, such as laundered money), and funding for "homeland security" has been doled out down to the lowest levels of government (where it's been spent on some truly weird stuff).
Re:Free news articles (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Neat! (Score:5, Informative)
There is more of this too....you know those quaint little stickers on CDs? Tipper Gore's (Al's squeeze), was leading the charge on that back in the day.
This isn't a "one side is doing it and not the other" thing.
Re:No porn in the libraries please. (Score:5, Informative)
OK. Except... Homeland Security isn't the police force, and for good reason. Leaving aside the practical impact of mission dilution, their objective is much different. It's the same reason we have the Posse Commitatus Act -- to keep national security assets out of daily life. Nations that don't respect that often end up having the army controlling daily life.
I am not a tin-foil hat guy and I recognize that we in the States are blessed with a highly professional military that takes seriously the principle of civilian control. Here's the rub, though: They do so because of the institutional separation, the incorporated distrust if you will. Paradoxically, we can trust our military precisely because we don't. Dragging DHS into obscenity policing is a step toward a disaster that makes street-variety terrorism pale in comparison.
These were county officials, not US Gov't (Score:5, Informative)
Stupid as these two guys were this was not related to the Patriot Act, it wasn't related to Bush, it wasn't related to the GOP, it wasn't related to Ashcroft, Alito, Cheney, Halliburton, Microsoft, SCO, or Rush Limbaugh.
Please becareful navigating posts in this story as the knee jerks could cause serious damage.
Re:Free news articles (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Now they're moving into the open... (Score:5, Informative)
Is this what you meant? Please note the first three lines (usually omitted in the USA), and that there is no mention of homosexuals. Political correctness is one thing; rewriting history and literature is another.
Als die Nazis die Kommunisten holten, habe ich geschwiegen; ich war ja kein Kommunist.
Als sie die Sozialdemokraten einsperrten, habe ich geschwiegen; ich war ja kein Sozialdemokrat.
Als sie die Gewerkschafter holten, habe ich geschwiegen; ich war ja kein Gewerkschafter.
Als sie die Juden holten, habe ich geschwiegen; ich war ja kein Jude.
Als sie mich holten, gab es keinen mehr, der protestieren konnte.
- Martin Niemöller, Der Weg ins Freie, (F.M. Hellbach, Stuttgart, 1946)
When the Nazis arrested the Communists, I said nothing; after all, I was not a Communist.
When they locked up the Social Democrats, I said nothing; after all, I was not a Social Democrat.
When they arrested the trade unionists, I said nothing; after all, I was not a trade unionist.
When they arrested the Jews, I said nothing; after all, I was not a Jew.
When they arrested me, there was no longer anyone who could protest.
- translated by Bob Berkovitz (rbbrook@worldnet.att.net).
Re:Neat! (Score:3, Informative)
The FCC is directed by five Commissioners appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate for 5-year terms, except when filling an unexpired term. The President designates one of the Commissioners to serve as Chairperson. Only three Commissioners may be members of the same political party. None of them can have a financial interest in any Commission-related business.
So, it is a requirement that there be Democrats on the commission.
Re:Free news articles (Score:2, Informative)
Re:"Seperation of church and state?" Whatever. (Score:5, Informative)
Jefferson wrote the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, which is not only the direct model for the religious clause of the First Amendment of the Constitution, it is the prototype of all modern religious liberty guarantees -- the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the constitutions of countless other nations, etc. Jefferson is the single most important thinker and writer in the past 500 years on the topic of religion and government. The phrase "separation of church and state" is the phrase he used to describe the essence of his policy, and it is the phrase we continue to use to describe that same policy.
It only prohibits the Federal Government from abridging the freedom of speech. Local state authorites are not Congress. It only prohibits Congress
The Fourteenth Amendment was ratified in 1868. You really need to pick up a few books on the Constitution and US history, your understanding of both is lacking, and it affects your understanding of your right as a citizen and human being.
Re:Now they're moving into the open... (Score:3, Informative)
according to the administration, yes it is [washingtonpost.com]
Re:Now they're moving into the open... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Now they're moving into the open... (Score:3, Informative)
Jews were just the largest and wealthiest group targetted.
Re:Ha. (Score:3, Informative)
I'll take that chance. Better to die free than live in fear of a police state.
Nuclear (including dirty bombs), Chemical, and Biological weapons can kill millions.
Well the first one *might* be able to. Chemical weapons? Not bloody likely. Biological weapons have never proven to be capable in a widespread area, unless you count the spread of smallpox and even that required continual exposure. So what's your point? The terrorists scare you? You do realize that in 2002 48,366 people died in car accidents. Want to wage war on cars? Are you scared to drive on the interstate?