munky.org|v3.0

So, I’ve been a on a kick lately, looking up videos and cases of Police brutality. Or should I just say abusive use of a power. Some of the stuff you come across, while it is claimed to be police brutality, is a lot of times the police doing what they have to do. If someone is resisting, then force is needed to gain physical control of the individual. Unfortunately, many times that use of force exceeds what is needed (excessive force). A lot of times it stems from a person still trash talking the officers. Sorry officers, but if you can’t handle being trash talked, then turn in your badge and your gun, and go work somewhere else. Other times, officers are just riled up from whatever brought them to that point, and they are unable to restrain themselves. Either way, it becomes assault once you go beyond that point. But, since you are sworn government officials, they like to use different terms like “official misconduct” or “civil rights violation.” It makes me sick, and a number of the videos I have shown to my dad (a 40 year law enforcement veteran, including during the civil rights movement) make him disappointed with the direction law enforcement has taken. The pack mentality, the abuse of authority. All stemming from a couple of issues. Poor screening of LEO recruits, and the institutionalized academy training.

We also agree that the big push since 9/11, with the Dept. of Homeland Security, the Patriot Act, among other things, are an absolute joke. Prior to 9/11, this country did infact have the capabilities to stop the attacks prior to their commission. Instead of addressing the fact that our current serves were poorly utilized and disfunctional, they added a new law enforcement division, and a wide array of tools for them to use. However, prior to 9/11, they were unable to use the tools that they were provided in the first place. So what do we end up with? More public money spent with increasing abuses of authority, with little positive gain.

One of the changes since 9/11 was the growing suspicion of photography. Most of us have heard of, or seen footage of, videographers getting arrested for filming cops. I won’t delve too much in this subject, but to make it plain and simple, if you are an officer, and you don’t want to be filmed, then quit. You either have issues that should prevent you from being an officer in the first place, or you are knowingly doing something illegal. If you have a problem being under the microscope of the public eye, tough shit. You got your power through us (by proxy of our elected representatives), and we have and will use our right to ensure that you are not abusing your power. That is absolutely what the 1st amendment was for. And if you don’t care or disagree, once again, you need to quit. Because eventually you will end up like officer douchebag of the Suffolk Police, who arrested a man for “obstruction” because he was filming. “I been a cop for thirty years…” “you can hold nothing over me.” Oh, except that fact that you got proven wrong in FEDERAL COURT. How does a man become a 30 year law enforcement veteran without understanding the law? Beyond me.

But videographers aside. Photography of public places considered to be “infrastructure”  has become a hot topic amongst LEO since 9/11. Is it possible that that man over there is taking pictures (of video) of this stuff to potentially sell to a terrorist organization? Let’s detain him and find out. Case in point, the video below.

It’s amazing that that LEO didn’t know the rules, couldn’t properly ID even one terrorist event that involved photography, nor even come up with a logical reason for detainment in the first place. “How do I know you not are taking pictures of infastructure to sell to al-qaeda?” First off, there is nearly no way to ID that from the detainment. None. Zip. Zelch. Oh, unless he had a text message on his phone from Bin Laden himself (who was still alive at this time) stating he needed this guy to take pictures of a random f’n subway in LA. But really, why would al-qaeda pay this guy to take these pictures? Need to do survelliance and figure out these facts? It’s called GOOGLE. Or Yahoo! or Bing. Or “The Jihadest Search Engine of Potential Targets.” Just click here and see if you can gather this “senstive information” that terrorrists are paying people for. They were smart enough to highjack 4 airplanes and successfully crash 3 of them into high profile targets, but they are too dumb to use google? Wonder what kind of recon they would need to blow up that subway? Try a pack of explosives and a train schedule. Is it sad to say that this officer could probably fail terrorist training camp? Yet he has a badge and a gun and authority? It scary really.

Stopping people for photography is really, well, Nazi like. Can’t think of a better word. “Show me your papers.” The Supreme Court ruled that stop and ID laws are only legal is there is reasonable suspicion that a crime has been or will be committed. Hate to say it, but the liklihood in this case of a crime being committed is 0. If this is a valid excuse, then “oh sir, you are carrying a briefcase, I will need to detain you to determine that you are carrying explosives,” becomes just as valid. Oh wait, this is the Police States of America 2011, so I’m sure it is. Nevermind. I guess that stuff that our ancestors fought and died for all those years ago doesn’t mean anything. If the police’s job is to protect us from bad guys (news flash, the Supreme Court said that that wasn’t their job either), then who is supposed to protect us from the cops? According to a USA Today article, federal prosecutors only go after 2% of all reported police brutality cases. And the numbers being reported have gone up from 2001-2007. It’s a serious problem. So apparently we are on our own, and until something is done about it, we will continue to have law enforcement try to intimidate us into submission to their interpretation of the law. Not the law itself. Or the even more primitive “right or wrong.”

A reminder of the recent revolts against the current regime - Photo: AFP/GETTY

My favorite country in the whole wide world, Iran, is back at it, AGAIN! Favorite being the relative term, given that I if I were given control of the little red button, Iran would become the deepest geological pit on the planet. Yes, they are always at it, but of course, they made front page CNN.com again. It’s not enough that they are refining nuclear material for “peaceful energy purposes.” Peaceful energy being another relative term, since their 3/4 of a year supply incidicates that their idea of peaceful energy is harnessing a nuclear bomb to eliminate Israel off the map. Nor is it enough that Ahmadinejad and his cronies (including the “Supreme” Leader Khamenie, a position which sounds more like a member of Star War’s galactic empire than the ruler of a fundamental Islamic republic) rigged the recent election, and brought so much hell against the people that it suppressed their views. Never fear, that’s a pot that will probably boil over sooner than later. Its not enough to consider the treatment of the people who were arrested during those protests, including a journalist who was tortured and forced to give an old confession, and who was only recently released on a large sum of bail. He had a great quote too, “I knew I was in trouble, because the people who were in charge of my life were idiots.” Great stuff.

But nope, they done gone and done something else again. Now they are conducting military exercises, designed to protect their “peaceful energy” deposits. Read: Iran wants to try and make sure neither the Israelis nor the Westerners are able to destroy their weapons grade stash. According to CNN,

Iran’s regular military and its elite Revolutionary Guards were to participate in the exercise against aerial attacks, especially against Iran’s nuclear plants, according to Press TV.

The Iranians are also still up to their “honest truth” campaign. Iran has stated,” it intends to produce nuclear energy only for peaceful purposes, including civilian electricity and medical research.” Scouts honor dude, these Iranians would never lie to us. I think we should believe them. That’s why they only have 3/4 of a year’s worth of material, capability to enrich to weapon’s grade, and that used nuclear reactor fuel makes a good base stock for weapon’s grade enrichment, according to my sources.

The sooner we realize that we’ve just let a bunch of fundamentalists have control over a country, control over its military, and now has access to some of the most dangerous weapons material in existence, the sooner we can figure out a plan of action. They have absolutely no track record of truly caring for its citizenry. Iran has never demonstrated its interested in doing medical research and the like. Modern science slaps their form of Islam right in the face. They have presented their agenda, we know it clearly. They refuse to accept that Israel is even in existence. They have denied that the holocaust has even occurred. They refuse to embrace the rights of their citizenry, evident by the rigged election and the mistreatment and murder of many of its own people. They have continually accepted and embraced the evils of the world that keeps us at war.

We need to wake up and smell the bacon. Iran does not get solved by diplomacy. A crook will not relinquish his power because we ask him too. If Bernie Madoff had been caught before the recession, and the authorities asked him nicely to stop, do you think he would’ve? No! The only way to handle a crook is to take him down, whether by force or by pulling the rug right out from under him. The world and so many Persians know the truth about this regime, but knowing and doing are two completely different things. Are we just going to sit on the sidelines and wait until Ahmadinejad brings about WW3/Armageddon/etc., or are we going to stop him before he has a chance to make Adolf Hitler look like a sweet Annie Orphan?

Andrea Phillips holds up a picture of her husband Richard, the U.S. Captain who was freed Sunday after the Navy SEALS made three perfect shots

Wow, a finish straight out of the movies. Three shots ended the hostage situation off the coast of Somalia. Sure, we see it in the movies all the time. But in real life, the stakes are real, and the challenges tremendous. Just imagine hitting a moving  target 75 feet away at night, while you are moving too. Sure, a number of people might be able to hit the broad side of  a barn in those conditions. But three one-shot kills, each to the head? Big round of applause is due to those SEALS. Watch out for this hostage situation on the next release of SOCOM!

The good news is that there are only a bunch of heroes in this story, and the only fatalities were to the bad guys. First, hats off to that captain. If anyone deserved to be saved, it was him. Giving himself up to the pirates to protect everyone else was a huge gamble. But it paid off in freeing his men, even though he made the risk for himself that much worse. Want a hero? That’s a hero.

But he wasn’t his only one. Hats off to the Navy for keeping the pirates in check and doing everything in their power to keep the Captain, Richard Phillips, alive, and to keep the pirates from taking him into Somalia. And those SEALS who fired those 3 shots? Just amazing.

But now that we are beyond this situation, we need to start finding ways of preventing it. Sure, we could TRY and patrol every square inch of sea out there, but that is impossible. All that leads to is having the Navy show up AFTER a ship has been taken. No, we need a better alternative. So let’s take a page out of history here.

The Marine Corps was founded to serve as an infantry unit aboard naval vessels and was responsible for the security of the ship and her crew by conducting offensive and defensive combat during boarding actions… (Wikipedia)

That’s right, we need to bring in the Marines. Or at least a civilian form of them. If the ship is a part of the Merchant Marines, give ‘em the Marines. If it is a ship who transports goods between the U.S. and other nations, make it a requirement that in order to transport goods to the U.S., it must be guarded by a well-trained security group that has been given the OK from the U.S. government.

If we are going to protect our cargo ships from pirates, then we need men on board who are trained to detect and repel such an attack.

And maybe we need to consider some form of joint UN action in Somalia to alter the landscape of a country that breeds the need of bold pirates to get by.

All I know is that Captain Jack Sparrow must be disappointed in these Somali pirates. He would’ve gotten away.

If the administration has its way, these soldiers may have to use private insurance to pay for treatment of war related injuries after being discharged

One of the things I most hate to hear is when veterans of the U.S. military get screwed by the government. There was once a time when the military provided everything when you served, and when you got out you were taken care of. After someone has intentionally put themselves in harms way for the protection of this country, it seems like such a small thing to do.

Yet recently we’ve been hit with newsbreak after newsbreak of vets getting the short end of the stick. I remember watching to 60 minute special after the Walter Reed news broke. Sickening. I remember hearing about a kid – just 19 years old – who had been sent off to Iraq and within a couple of months had his leg blown off. He was given a medical discharge and sent to the hospital to get a prosthetic and go through therapy. Then the army comes and wants their $20,000 bonus back because he didn’t serve his full term. Are you serious? The Army should have changed its campaign posters to “Join the Army, where it’ll only cost you an arm and a leg. Or a leg and $20,000.” It was sickening.

Now we hear about the lack of basic cleaning of equipment has put numerous veterans at risk for dangerous infections, including hepatitis and HIV. Appalling.

But it gets worse. The Obama administration has found a way to fully fund the VA medical system – charge the vets. That’s right, even for battle related wounds, the VA system would charge veterans’ insurance for medical care, putting veterans at the mercy of their insurance benefits. Something isn’t right there.

Obama is trying to fill a $540 million budget gap, so he plugs it with the money of the veterans. Wow. I guess their blood in the battlefields wasn’t good enough, now we need their money too.

Our government needs to take a step back and take in everything. What all is this and other recent policies (I.E. 90% retroactive taxation on bonuses) doing? It is eroding the public’s trust in the government. Including the trust of the men and women who risked so much to keep us around. It is a shame, truly a shame, that we have sunk so far.

The Ilyushin Il-38 May maritime patrol aircraft, the type of plane that flew over Navy ships at 500 ft.

The Russians are at it once again. This time they did a fly over U.S. Navy ships in “Mays” bombers while the ships were in international waters in the Sea of Japan. How close? 500 ft above. In a plane, that’s incredibly close. It was a legal move, but still leaves your concerned.

But what’s up with these guys? Between threatening British, Canadian, and American airspace, looking for runways in the Caribbean and South America, doing flyovers of naval ships. Our government says it’s them flexing their muscles. Flexing muscles are for scared wimps, hoping to intimidate someone. I don’t think that’s the deal. Smells like they are testing the waters. Consider it, right now they are “flexing” their muscles, then being quickly herded back out by fighter aircraft (except for the case where a Russian bomber flew through U.S. Airspace undetected a while back). In the latest attempts, it appears the F-18′s didn’t intercept until apparently after the planes flew over. Maybe I read it wrong, but if that’s the case, imagine those bombers were on a mission. They could have taken out several ships in a quick sucker punch.

Things are starting to add up to trouble. Russian has been trying to “flex its muscles” in multiple venues now, and she is getting a stronger and wider influence. These cards aren’t adding up well.

My whole life, the Cold War was a vague concept from my childhood. I was 6 when the wall came down, far too young to grip what it all meant. I fear the time may be coming of a second Cold War, or worse.

Just a quick correction, the “Mays” is actually a maritime patrol aircraft, not a bomber, but still moved decidedly close to naval vessels. Beyond search and rescue, these planes are also used for reconnaissance roles, lending to the question of why the Russians are so interested in.

Dick Cheney, former Vice President of the United States

Dick Cheney, former vice president under G.W. Bush and an average marksman (he tried to follow Shakespeare’s advice and kill all the lawyers, yet he only managed to wound one), sat down and spoke with CNN, defending the Bush era.

 Unfortunately for him, he was only partially right, and mostly wrong by ignoring too many facts. I’ll start with his rights.

He is right is stating that terrorism is a military issue, not a police issue. To that, I don’t think closing Gitmo is the best idea either. I’ll even agree with his statements regarding Bush’s poor resolution with North Korea.

However, beyond that, he is mostly wrong. First off, he staunchly supports the invasion of Iraq. Even though there weren’t weapons of mass destruction, he claims they eliminated the threat. We could also kill off the union workers too if we wanted to end the threat of a strike. It’s an unsatisfactory remark. Over 4,000 American lives have been lost to eliminate a threat that didn’t exist. Sure, we created a democracy in the middle east. But where is it that we have a god given right to decide how other people should be governed.

Cheney ignores American ideals in many ways. With Iraq, he forgets that the only reason America is a democracy is because her own people risked their own lives and property to fight for something they believed in. The French didn’t sail in, guns and bread in tow, saying you shall be free of English oppression. America does not have the right to tell others that they are to be a democracy, we can only go in and support that movement if it falls in line with our ideals. We will force our brand of government on others, but when other countries announce their own Declaration of Independence, we far too often ignore it.

Cheney also staunchly supports other opposition to American ideals. Warrantless wiretapping is one of those violations. Smack in the face of our own constitution, and a serious violation to privacy. Had this been done illegally and covertly by intelligence officials, it may have stayed under the radar. Unfortunately, these men decided it was best to make it a public law. Needless to say I make intentional reckless remarks over the phone for the next several months. I wanted that visit

Cheney also supports torture. For one, torture violates the Geneva convention (since he claims that terrorism is a military matter), for two it violates the 8th amendment of the United States, for three it violates the moral grounds that country was built on. But beyond all the moral and legal issues at hand, it has also proven fruitless. Many of these men who were tortured intentionally gave bad information based off of what the interrogators wanted. These men trained for this sort of work (read Inside The Jihadby Omar Nasari for more details). When you have radically committed your entire mind body and soul to this work, it appears little can affect you. The power of Islam, brainwashing men and women to be willing to blow themselves up also works to make them ineffective targets for torture.

Cheney also disregards more American ideals in his belief that terror subjects could be held for indefinite periods, with no trial. Police wise there is the 6th amendment concerning this. In the military they also have their own laws regarding this. However, since these men were being held on US sovereign soil, they are to be treated by the laws of this nation, irregardless of their citizenship.

Now I don’t particularly agree with the administrations move to close Gitmo. There is a high probability many these men will be set free, and has been proven already, they run immediately back to the nest.

Terrorism does change the game, but we can’t afford to change ourselves to fight it. If we do, then they have already won.

To read the full article and see the interview with Cheney, please visit it here on CNN.

RAF Typhoon tntercepts Russian Bear-H Bomber as it threatens British airspace in August, 2007

Russia is interested in Cuban airfields for its strategic bombers. Wow, are we looking at the potential Cuban missile crisis of 2000′s?

According to an article on CNN, Russia has expressed interest in using some Cuban airfields that would work perfectly for their strategic bombers. It also went on that Chavez has offered use of Venezuelan airfields to the Russians as well.

This is disturbing. I’ve never really trusted the Russians, even under their faux face of democracy. The country is still gripped by the hands of soviet socialism to a large extent. Their president, Dmitry Medvedev, is nothing more than a puppet for Vladimir Putin, the ex-KGB man who was president for many years. Putin has shown many times over that he is still a soviet, by persecuting powerful business men on trump up charges, allowing the government or his allies to take control of key industries.

What makes Russia even more dangerous is the large amount of petro dollars coming into the country, and its revival as a true superpower. Russia has been slowly trying to regain control of former soviet nations, and has been exerting its force to slowly deplete American military force in the area. Such a true ally Russia is also an ally to the Iranians, helping them put rockets into space and god only knows what else (I’m sure the Russians have a hand in the nuclear threat there as well).

The Russian military has also been making a resurgence. It has been growing, and attempting to grow its power worldwide. Just before President Obama made his trip to Canada, two Russian bombers were turned away by Canadian fighter jets near the border. There have been numerous other incidents where Russian bombers have violated Canadian, US, and UK airspace over the last couple of years. In fact, in 2007 Vladamir Putin – then Russia’s President, now its puppeteer – said that bombers should resume the tactics of the Cold War. So what is Russia up to? What kind of grand dastardly ideas are rolling through the Kremlin and Moscow? Russia has a long history of failed glorious plans, never being able to recreate it’s earlier superpower status, when it ruled 1/6th of the world.

Call me a conspiracy theorist, but America is setting itself up ripe for the pickings if Russia decides to make a hostile move. Our military is desperately spread thin, and our focus is nearly blinded on the regions of Iraq and Afghanistan. If Russia decided to flex its muscles right now, the U.S. would be in a world of trouble. Sure, we’d be able to put up a fight, but we’d still be in a very bad spot.

So why does Russia have a need for an airbase in Cuba for? Why did the Americans need Iwo Jima. Only difference is the amount of blood loss for the possession. I think it is time that the US makes amends with the Cubans, flexing out muscles and telling the Russians they need to back off. They already cost us Kyrgyzstan. Let’s take away Cuba before it happens again. And as for the threat from Chavez, hopefully the people of Venezuela will finally come to their senses that this man is using them. There already has been some awakening in the region, yet not enough.

This Chinese trawler was trying to snag the Impeccable's acoustic array

So the Chinese are up to cheap tricks in international waters. The USNS Impeccable was harassed Sunday in the South China Sea by multiple Chinese boats (read full story on CNN here or on Al Jazeera English Edition here). The ship was in international waters, yet one of the vessels radioed in and ”called her operations illegal and directed Impeccable to leave the area or ‘suffer the consequences’.”

 

The US ship’s commander asked the Chinese ships by radio “in a friendly manner” for a safe path to leave the area.

Two Chinese boats then moved directly in front of the USNS Impeccable, forcing it to take emergency action to avoid collision (Al Jazeera)

 

This is disturbing. First off, the ship is generally unarmed, with most of its crew being civilians. The other Chinese vessels also attempted to snag off the underwater acoustic equipment that is the purpose of the ship.

Given the Chinese government’s history of harassing naval ships, and of closing its ports to Navy vessels (and detaining for 11 days the 24 American crew members who had a mid-air collision and crash landed in China), I think our government needs to take some steps. Obviously, in some parts of the Chinese government, diplomacy doesn’t work. The Navy should attach Marines to any vessels that are to be in the sea near China. The original purpose of the Marines were to be on ships and fight of attackers (I.E. Pirates and the British). They are the only true amphibious fighting force in the military. And I promise you any Chinese intelligence boat, trawler, etc. that decides it wants to try to harass an American vessel without regard will think twice after being boarded by a handful of Marines.

Just my thoughts. It is concerning though. The Chinese have been smuggling classified parts out of America for years, probably to reverse engineer them and build up its own military prowess. The plan is simple yet very powerful. Faithful Chinese move to America to work, educated, etc. Although they have not been given any direct orders by the government to steal information, they know they will receive payment for anything they get. Eventually they make contacts, and hopefully manage to leave the country with something good.

A few years back a respectable Chinese man made the wrong contact. It turned out his contact was a UC FBI agent playing a dissident American with access to an F-15 engine. Although I don’t remember the specifics, they had made an arrangement for him to purpose the engine for millions of dollars. Although he was a respectable business man, he wasn’t a millionaire. Where did the money come from? China denies all involvement, obviously.

Of course even bigger threats emerge without the need for millions of dollars and sleeper spies. In February is was announced that the plans for the Marine One helicopter were compromised. Not by a high-tech hacker but via P2P file-sharing software. Absolutely absurd that some idiot with a computer that has sensitive data on it could install file-sharing software! You would think somebody would think “hey, why don’t we put a block on all P2P clients?” Nope. Real geniuses, and these guys get paid the big bucks. The lucky recipient of the plans? Tehran. Yup, one of the biggest enemies to the western world (and Israel), who has been developing nuclear technology while our bastard politicians have been trying to play diplomatic. These guys have the plans for the upgraded presidential helicopter. Genius.

We walk a tight line in this country. Although America is supposed to be a melting pot of cultures, we also have doors open to cultures and individuals whose only intent is to destroy us or steal from us. We could lock the borders tight, but to think of it, that would be truely un-American. What do we do? I don’t have all those answers.

And as fast as it is published, I am retracting after located 1st Lt. Easterling’s supposed blog, which has been taken down, claiming that someone had impersonated an officer of the United States Army. However, the original blog is still up (I am saving a copy in case they remove it.)

http://defendourfreedoms.us/2009/02/26/1st-lt-scott-r-easterling-does-not-have-a-blog.aspx - Retraction

http://defendourfreedoms.us/2009/02/23/dr-taitzs-military-action-welcomes-officer-easterling.aspx - Original. And the comments make me sick

What does disturb me is the lawyer from this firm. I’ll leave my reasons out of this, but I can tell you right now, I don’t trust her. If you think like I do you’ll pick it up quick. And no, it’s not because she’s a woman

Bleeding heart liberals. That’s what we call ‘em. People who have extremely liberal ideas, barking out cries of brutality because they have nothing better to do with their time or lives. What a shame. People are starving and all they can do is sit on their hands and complain. When people are dying at the hands of ruthless murderers, intent on striking fear into the lives of others, they still sit on their hands and complain.

Just look at what is going on in Mexico. In the town on Juarez, just off the border in the Chihuahua state, drug cartels are running rampant. Last year 1,600 people died. Up until a couple of weeks ago, on average 6 people were dying a day. A DAY! The police chief quit because he was threatened, not of his own life, but the lives of his officers. The terrorists, err cartels, said they would kill a policeman a day until he quit. He quit. I can’t say I blame him either. 

This is a situation ripe for human rights activists. Human suffering, unsafe conditions. So what do they do?! They cry fowl that the government has sent 3,500 troops and 3,000 federal police to suppress the violence and the cartels. To restore law and order, to restore the basic rights of all of the residents who have been in fear of their lives. What a crock of $&%#.

“The increase in law enforcement brings elements that create an environment conducive to the violation of human rights,” said José Luis Armendáriz González, president of the Chihuahua State Commission of Human Rights. “What are the limits of their power? The risk for wrongful detentions, raids of homes increases when there’s no clear line.” (Read full story here on CNN)

What does he want them to do, send in a diplomat? This drug cartels run their own militias, worthy of being considered a military force. There is no clear line of right or wrong for them, limited rules. They are terrorists in their own right, and have made themselves the de facto authority in Juarez. 3,500 troops (plus another 1,500 on the way) is probably a good number, considered they are fighting a trained paramilitary force. These aren’t the hoodlum gangs roaming the streets.

Iranian Ameneh Bahrami poses in Barcelona holding a photograph of herself before she was blinded by acid

I’ve been getting tired of hearing these guys kick and scream over stuff, when all they do is continually contradict their own meaning. Human rights groups cried foul when a young Iranian had her face burned and eyes destroyed by acid from a dejected suitor. He claimed to do it out of love. They weren’t mad at him. They were mad the Iranian court followed her recommended sentence: to have his eyes burned out by acid, just as he had done to her. So fine, let’s have it the human rights way. We’ll put him in jail. A good 10 – 15 years, to ensure he learns his lesson. He gets out, falls in love with a girl who doesn’t want him, so then he rapes her and kills her. Oh my, he would never do such a thing! (read the full story here)

Human rights is a precious thing. I believe every human has basic rights that he or she deserves. Yet if you violate someone else’s, do you retain the right to keep yours? Sure, you steal from someone, get caught, pay your debt and go on. But when you violate the most sacred rights like this man did, the only way to repay your debt is to sacrifice your own rights.

Back to Juarez. Human rights activists are worried that people are going to be wrongfully detained and have their privacy violated. Unfortunately, that is a price to pay when the enemy lives among you. I don’t doubt that the authorities have considered this line already, developing methods to reduce the likelihood. Why? Not because of national and international politics. Because if they just lock down the entire city and search every home with disregard, they will create an insurrection. This soldiers and the police are amongst their own people who have suffered tremendously, and if they handle it correctly they will be hailed as heroes (ego goes a long way). Finally, a lot of the training for their military and federal police comes from the U.S., which although may have faults, has generally a good job and mitigating that danger.

Maybe the human rights activists and PETA should get into the sack and create a new organization. Less overhead for the same amount of respect.