- From the “Eye In The Sky” Department – The ACLU is suing the LAPD again, but this time it doesn’t have to do with nightsticks, flashlights, and car chases. In this case, the ACLU wants to know the process by which the police put the automobiles of citizens into a list of targets for its “Automatic License Plate Reader” system. What basically happens is that cameras connected to computers are placed on objects such as traffic lights and street signs, and they automatically examine every license plate that goes by them. If the license plate is on a “hot list” of targets, data such as time and location are recorded for later retrieval by the police. Police say that the system is essential in situations such as an AMBER alert for missing children, but won’t say what the criteria is for putting someone on the list, how police decide to take them off, and what non-police oversight is exercised on the system. Police also say they use the system to track the movements of convicted sex offenders, even though they may not be under investigation for any current crime. As disgusting as I find sex offenders, I have an issue with the state spending money to create a system that can not only track sex offenders, but could also be easily abused to track the whereabouts of any citizen they decide they need to keep tabs on. There may be benefits to such a system in an emergency, but it shouldn’t be a dragnet. Unless there are controls in place to minimize abuse, then it shouldn’t be used, and the controls should be transparent to the rest of us.
- From the “Mutton, Honey” Department – A university in Canada is trying to sell off 300 head of sheep from its research facility in one lot. Apparently, the cost of maintaining the herd is too much for the school after budget cuts, and they want the herd to stay intact. Well, they want to sell them all at once. Staying intact probably isn’t going to happen, because about two hours after I bought 300 sheep, a good number of them would be working their way through a facility to separate their fuzzy bits from their edible bits. Too bad it’s such a pain to move livestock across the border, because I haven’t had good lamb in a long time. Remember kids, Easter lambs make good Memorial Day dinners.
- From the “Butt Above the Grass” Department – A cemetery in Massachusetts has rejected a headstone inscription that included profanity. It seems that using a four letter word on your grave marker might offend someone in the grave yard. Profanity in public is frowned upon in our Puritan society. This is why I learned to swear in multiple languages. It’s amazing how you can mutter to yourself in Russian or Serb, and no-one calls HR. Plus, let’s be honest, English is probably lucky to be in the top 10 list of languages when it comes to swearing. Some languages make it an art form. Who would do a better job cussing someone out, an Italian from Boston or her cousin from Naples?
- From the “Oopsie” Department – The National Health Service in Britain has had 750 “never” incidents in the past four years. These incidents, such as doctors leaving instruments inside a patient or operating on the wrong body part, are ones that should “never” happen. One of the more shocking was a rather high number of cases where a feeding tube was inserted into the patient’s lungs, which I can’t imagine is a very healthy thing at all. I wonder how the statistics for American hospitals looks? By the way, it is never a good idea to read a book on methods for improving hospital and medical safety just before going in for inpatient surgery. Irish Woman worked for a company that worked on digitization of medical records and radiology a few years ago, and they handed out just such a book to their employees, and I gave it a read. It was absolutely fascinating, but not a good thing to have on your mind when you’re putting on the backwards gown and a surgical beret.
- From the “Fake Firewater” Department – Officials in Russia recently raided a warehouse that contained 300,000 bottles of counterfeit vodka, cognac, and wine. Instead of name brand hooch, the bottles were filled with what amounted to moonshine. Food purity and false labeling are one of the few areas where I believe that a little government oversight, within reason, is not a bad thing. Imagine buying what you think is a good bottle of cognac, then waking up blind because it contained methanol. For the most part, I stayed away from alcohol when I was in Russia, with the exception of the occasional tipple at the Liberty Bar in the embassy. It was the height of the Yeltsin period, there were daily reports of tainted vodka or whatever in the newspapers, and let’s be honest, I’m not the sharpest tack in the box when I start drinking. Trust me, you don’t want the inhibitions that keep me wrapped up nice and neat to peel away like a belly dancer doing the dance of 1000 veils. It’s not pretty, and it causes me to have to apologize to scores of people.
- From the “Thumb in the Eye” Department – The final piece of One World Trade Center has been put in place, making the skyscraper officially 1776 feet in height. It’s been over 11 years since 9/11, and while the skyline on Manhattan will never be the same, this building helps to fill the gap. I think it should be looked at as a big middle finger pointed toward the Middle East. All it’s missing is a head on a pike at its pinnacle.
- From the “Justice” Department – A man who ran from a traffic stop in Florida the other night was arrested at a local hospital after he went there seeking treatment for wounds he got when he was attacked by an alligator. Apparently as Mookie was giving the boys in blue a slip, a reptilian citizen decided to intervene and took a chunk out of his face, arm, and armpit. No word yet on whether the alligator will be rewarded for doing his civic duty, but I for one hope that he gets his due, hopefully in the form of a certificate and a flock of plump chickens.
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News Roundup
Posted by daddybear71 on May 10, 2013
https://daddybearsden.com/2013/05/10/news-roundup-189/
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3 Comments
DaddyBear
DaddyBear’s Den 
Lazy Bike Commuter
/ May 10, 2013Mandarin was a good way for Firefly to get profanity through, too. They had some rather creative ones.
http://www.toplessrobot.com/2010/11/fireflys_15_best_uses_of_chinese_profanity.php
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Drang
/ May 11, 2013RE: Sex Offenders: one concern I do have is, how does one get labeled a “sex offender”, since it now seems that it is possible for an adolescent to be branded as such for stupidity like sexting, or streaking.
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daddybear71
/ May 11, 2013Good point. Hadn’t thought of that. I know of at least one young man who got put on the registry because he was 19 and his girlfriend was 16 and her parents complained.
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