The Conscience of Abe’s Turn freedom of speech, defense, and life

Via AntiPolygraph.org News: Just before the dawn of President-elect Obama’s reign, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Steven G. Bradbury has issued a late legal opinion contradicting an anti-polygraph memorandum from President Lyndon B. Johnson. Yes, you read that right: LBJ.  read more »

It’s one of the ballsiest experiments of my lifetime, stemming from one of the saddest, most infuriating stories of the decade.

KopBusters has a new website up, with KopBusters episode #1 (the Odessa, TX episode) now available for pre-order. Here’s the story so far. (With mocking, rhetorical comments inserted by yours truly at convenient junctures.)

In response to allegations that the Odessa Police Department falsified evidence against Yolanda Madden, who is now spending years in prison as a result of her ordeal, KopBusters orchestrated a sting on the police of Odessa. The KopBusters crew secretly rented a house in Odessa, in which they set up a grow-lamp—similar to those used for growing marijuana—under which they placed two miniature evergreen trees. When the Odessa cops arrived at the site expecting to find drugs, instead they found they were part of an undercover video program, with a network of closed-circuit cameras streaming video over the Internet.

When the KopBusters then asked to see the search warrant affidavit, the police refused. But KopBusters and the Odessa American have now received copies of the affidavit, which says the raid was predicated upon an anonymous letter, allegedly left at the Odessa police department by Pastor Terry Pierce, who pastors a local church. According to the Odessa American, Pastor Pierce denies delivering any such letter and says he’s never heard of Yolanda Madden.

Meanwhile, the Odessa Police Department refuses to discuss the issue, because it’s part of an open investigation. (Or was that “national security”? Let me double-check… Uh, no. It was “open investigation.”)  read more »

Jacob Hornberger in a post on his blog examines the increased drug prohibition in Mexico.

Yet, what has been the result of Mexico’s attempt to ramp up its efforts to win the war on drugs?

Ever-increasing violence. Ever-increasing murders. Ever-increasing torture. Ever-increasing beheadings. Ever-increasing kidnappings. Ever-increasing military and police budgets. Ever-increasing governmental powers over the citizenry.

In other words, the more ferociously they have waged the war on drugs, the worse the situation has become.  read more »

When I referred to Helena-West Helena, Arkansas as a “police state,” because of the 24-hour-a-day curfew it had imposed on all its citizens, and because of the current mandate of the police force there to question citizens while they’re taking a walk or to pull them over for driving down the street, I noticed the usual spate of comments. Many people who read the post sympathized with my position. At least one reader took the attitude: don’t be such a wimp; if they have crime like that, they deserve a police state. The most interesting opinion, however, is what I want to talk about here, that maybe Helena-West Helena isn’t a police state.

The argument is basically this: Citizens there are being hassled by the cops. That’s good to report, but we shouldn’t whine about it being a “police state,” because that only undermines our case. Real police states are totalitarian. Real police states don’t just hassle people who break the curfew; they arrest curfew-breakers. Real police states have soldiers, not cops, patrolling the streets, armed with machine guns. Real police states outlaw free speech. The very fact that the ACLU is complaining proves that it’s not a police state. And in a real police state, situations like the one in Helena-West Helena aren’t repaired. Helena-West Helena is not a police state.

I admit, this argument makes sense to me. It’s very convincing. I can sympathize with that point of view. Except…  read more »