Archive for the ‘Civil Rights’ Category

I guess the last fifty years or so we could sorta pretend that we were a sovereign nation and not ruled by global oil corporations, but the recent BP disaster has put some cracks in that facade. This article from ProPublica demonstrates how Texas police kowtow to BP security. Those Texas cops are working for the oil corporations, not the citizens of the community.

Photographer Briefly Detained by Police Near BP’s Texas City Refinery

This story is part of an ongoing collaboration between ProPublica and FRONTLINE (PBS).

A photographer taking pictures for these articles, was detained Friday while shooting pictures in Texas City, Texas.

The photographer, Lance Rosenfield, said that shortly after arriving in town, he was confronted by a BP security officer, local police and a man who identified himself as an agent of the Department of Homeland Security. He was released after the police reviewed the pictures he had taken on Friday and recorded his date of birth, Social Security number and other personal information.

The police officer then turned that information over to the BP security guard under what he said was standard procedure, according to Rosenfield.

No charges were filed.

Rosenfield, an experienced freelance photographer, said he was detained shortly after shooting a photograph of a Texas City sign on a public roadway. Rosenfield said he was followed by a BP employee in a truck after taking the picture and blocked by two police cars when he pulled into a gas station.

According to Rosenfield, the officers said they had a right to look at photos taken near secured areas of the refinery, even if they were shot from public property. Rosenfield said he was told he would be “taken in” if he declined to comply. Michael Marr, a BP spokesman, released a statement explaining the company’s actions:

“BP Security followed the industry practice that is required by federal law. The photographer was released with his photographs after those photos were viewed by a representative of the Joint Terrorism Task Force who determined that the photographer’s actions did not pose a threat to public safety.”

Paul Steiger, editor-in-chief of ProPublica, said: “We certainly appreciate the need to secure the nation’s refineries. But we’re deeply troubled by BP’s conduct here, especially when they knew we were working on deadline on critical stories about this very facility. And we see no reason why, if law enforcement needed to review the unpublished photographs, that should have included sharing them with a representative of a private company.”

Here’s a fun game to play at home. See if the movie or television show you’re watching passes the Bechdel Test (sometimes incorrectly identified as the Mo Movie Measure).

“The Bechdel Test is a simple way to gauge the active presence of female characters in Hollywood films and just how well rounded and complete those roles are. It was created by Allison Bechdel in her comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For in 1985. It is astonishing the number of popular movies that can’t pass this simple test. It demonstrates how little women’s complex and interesting lives are underrepresented or non existent in the film industry. We have jobs, creative projects, friendships and struggles among many other things that are actually interesting in our lives… so Hollywood, start writing about it!”

Does the movie you’re watching

1. have at least two women in it with names,
2. who talk to each other,
3. about something besides a man?

If so, then it passes the Bechdel Test.

Image Copyright Alison Bechdel

Here’s a fun game to play at home. See if the movie or television show you’re watching passes the Bechdel Test (sometimes incorrectly identified as the Mo Movie Measure).

“The Bechdel Test is a simple way to gauge the active presence of female characters in Hollywood films and just how well rounded and complete those roles are. It was created by Allison Bechdel in her comic strip Dykes to Watch Out For in 1985. It is astonishing the number of popular movies that can’t pass this simple test. It demonstrates how little women’s complex and interesting lives are underrepresented or non existent in the film industry. We have jobs, creative projects, friendships and struggles among many other things that are actually interesting in our lives… so Hollywood, start writing about it!”

Does the movie you’re watching

1. have at least two women in it with names,
2. who talk to each other,
3. about something besides a man?

If so, then it passes the Bechdel Test.

Image Copyright Alison Bechdel

Sanjay Gupta interviews Dr. Jack Kevorkian. For the youngsters in the audience, Kevorkian was big news in the 1990s as he blatantly broke Michigan laws against euthanasia.

After helping more than 100 people die, Kevorkian entered prison in 1999 at the age of 71. He was released on parole a couple of years ago after serving eight years in the penitentiary.

While early on Kevorkian was seen as the courageous face of the right-to-die movement, it became increasingly clear as he went to trial and as information about his past came out, that he was sort of a creepy fellow.

Regardless of Kevorkian’s personal kinks, and questionable history, the right to end your own life remains an important civil rights issue in the United States and across the globe.

“I realized this was what he had building up to for some time. This wasn’t just about assisted suicide; this was about upholding the ability for people to do whatever they wanted to do, without interference from doctors, the states or the federal government.

“That the rights of the masses should not impede on the rights of a few. Someone once told me that was the “gist” of the Ninth Amendment, and it is something that has helped inform Dr. Jack Kevorkian’s thinking and his life.”

Sanjay Gupta interviews Dr. Jack Kevorkian. For the youngsters in the audience, Kevorkian was big news in the 1990s as he blatantly broke Michigan laws against euthanasia.

After helping more than 100 people die, Kevorkian entered prison in 1999 at the age of 71. He was released on parole a couple of years ago after serving eight years in the penitentiary.

While early on Kevorkian was seen as the courageous face of the right-to-die movement, it became increasingly clear as he went to trial and as information about his past came out, that he was sort of a creepy fellow.

Regardless of Kevorkian’s personal kinks, and questionable history, the right to end your own life remains an important civil rights issue in the United States and across the globe.

“I realized this was what he had building up to for some time. This wasn’t just about assisted suicide; this was about upholding the ability for people to do whatever they wanted to do, without interference from doctors, the states or the federal government.

“That the rights of the masses should not impede on the rights of a few. Someone once told me that was the “gist” of the Ninth Amendment, and it is something that has helped inform Dr. Jack Kevorkian’s thinking and his life.”

Initial composition of jury members in a human trafficking criminal trial began Tuesday in Clearwater, Florida, United States. WTVT-TV reported this may be the first such case in the Tampa Bay Area.

An individual named Colin Anthony Dyer was placed under arrest in May 2009. Dyer, 37, faces charges in the case including human trafficking and sexual battery. Accusations against Dyer include human trafficking on one woman, and both sexual battery and human trafficking on another young woman.

Law enforcement officials stated Dyer along with three other individuals restrained women without their permission in a residence in Treasure Island, Florida. According to statements by those investigating the case, Dyer and his associates made these women work as prostitutes.

Other individals that were arrested related to the case included Kenyatta Cornelius, Edward Jones, and Corinna Shaffer. The case involving Dyer is the first of these people to be heard in court at trial.

Law enforcement officials have said that Dyer raped a woman and made her work in the capacity of a prostitute at a strip club called “Vegas Showgirls,” located near St. Petersburg, Florida.

Prior to admitting possible jury members into the courtroom, Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge Timothy Peters asked lawyers if a plea bargain deal had been made between the parties. Bryant Camareno, lawyer for Dyer, stated his client did not wish to plead guilty. Lawyers for the government did not give Dyer a formal plea bargain deal offer. Judge Peters queried Dyer regarding his understanding that he could be sentenced to a maximum of 60 years in jail, and Dyer answered in the affirmative.

Police detectives have stated that this might be the first case in Florida dealing with the human trafficking of citizens of the United States.

(via Wikinews)

If you’re REALLY concerned about raising children right, then hetero couples should not be allowed to be parents. Lesbians do it better.

“A nearly 25-year study concluded that children raised in lesbian households were psychologically well-adjusted and had fewer behavioral problems than their peers.”

Florida, of course, prohibits lesbian couples from adopting children. Presumably to keep the population dumb and dysfunctional so they’ll continue to think that paying out $120,000 in tax dollars to “secretly” gay quacks like George Rekers to testify that gays are bad parents (based on gut feelings rather than scientific research) is pretty good use of tax-payer dollars.

If you’re REALLY concerned about raising children right, then hetero couples should not be allowed to be parents. Lesbians do it better.

“A nearly 25-year study concluded that children raised in lesbian households were psychologically well-adjusted and had fewer behavioral problems than their peers.”

Florida, of course, prohibits lesbian couples from adopting children. Presumably to keep the population dumb and dysfunctional so they’ll continue to think that paying out $120,000 in tax dollars to “secretly” gay quacks like George Rekers to testify that gays are bad parents (based on gut feelings rather than scientific research) is pretty good use of tax-payer dollars.

One of the cornerstones of liberalism is freedom of speech. Censorship is anathema to the liberal mind. Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the freedom to mock the powerful, even God, is a sign that you live in a free nation.

I think it’s apocryphal, but Mark Twain is supposed to have once said that a person who does not read is no better off than a person who cannot read. Along those same lines, a press that does not exercise its freedom is no better off than a press which is censored.

Why is it that none of our news organizations are reprinting the image of Muhammad that South Park used without controversy in 2001, but was censored in their recent 200th episode? (And, if you’ve seen a news organization use the image reprinted below, please let me know.)

The Prophet Muhammad

One of the cornerstones of liberalism is freedom of speech. Censorship is anathema to the liberal mind. Freedom of speech, freedom of the press, the freedom to mock the powerful, even God, is a sign that you live in a free nation.

I think it’s apocryphal, but Mark Twain is supposed to have once said that a person who does not read is no better off than a person who cannot read. Along those same lines, a press that does not exercise its freedom is no better off than a press which is censored.

Why is it that none of our news organizations are reprinting the image of Muhammad that South Park used without controversy in 2001, but was censored in their recent 200th episode? (And, if you’ve seen a news organization use the image reprinted below, please let me know.)

The Prophet Muhammad