Say Anything Blog

I ain’t touchin’this one......

Election ‘08 - We Are So Screwed

Come-on Pilgrim, what do you think?

Would you advise your son to talk to a cop?

What’s going to happen to US industry when the global warming extremists like John McCain double the price of electricity?  I would think all these factories will close and set up in countries where they aren’t scared of technology.

Come-on Pilgrim, what do you think?

Didn’t you watch the video?? We’re not supposed to talk to Pilgrim! Heh.

For any voter trying to choose between the two candidates for commander in chief, there is no better test than this: When American strategy in a critical theater was up for grabs, John McCain proposed a highly unpopular and risky path, which he accurately predicted could lead to success. Barack Obama proposed a popular and politically safe route that would have led to an unnecessary and debilitating American defeat at the hands of al Qaeda.

Frederick W. Kagan

Great point Proof.

Shut up Pil!

What’s going to happen to US industry when the global warming extremists like John McCain double the price of electricity?  I would think all these factories will close and set up in countries where they aren’t scared of technology.

All right Whistler, here we go.....(you knew you could goad me into this),

A couple of points: It’s not illegal to lie to a cop, although in some cases you can be charged with obstruction or as a principle or accessory later if you do and hinder an investigation.

It IS illegal to lie to the FBI. Don’t ask me how they slipped that one through but, it is.

And further, if my kid had comitted a crime I’d damn sure want him to tell the truth about it. Too many parents leap to the defense of their kids and empower them to get over, get away with things. The results are obvious in today’s society.

That being said, I agree with you that this new generation of cops (skin head cops as one of my long time friends with another agency calls them) seem more interested in arrest stats than in being human.

I told the men and women who worked for me for years that we should never let this job take our humanity.

Now, THAT being said, I kicked ass as ass needed kicked (figuratively and literally) for many years, but cut slack on many an occasion when others wouldn’t.

There. Happy now? Heh.

Election ‘08 - We Are So Screwed

By the way...9 months, three weeks, and three days. Then I won’t have to worry about it any more.

Election ‘08 - We Are So Screwed

So in nine months 3 weeks and 3 days we can talk to you again.

Regarding your son, if he committed a crime, wouldn’t you feel that he should get something for telling the truth, IE a plea deal.

I wouldn’t approve of the kid getting off scot free, but cutting a deal would be ok by me. 

So don’t talk to the cops.

(BTW I saved the video to my computer for when it’s needed to be seen.)

Regarding lying to the FBI being a crime.  As far as I’m concerned unless you are under oath it shouldn’t be a crime.

What’s going to happen to US industry when the global warming extremists like John McCain double the price of electricity?  I would think all these factories will close and set up in countries where they aren’t scared of technology.

Regarding lying to the FBI being a crime.  As far as I’m concerned unless you are under oath it shouldn’t be a crime.

Agreed whole heartedly. But - is is. And a Federal crime at that, which can get you hard time. Again - I don’t know how they slipped that one thorugh, but they did.

Election ‘08 - We Are So Screwed

That was really good.. Forwarded that on to at least 20 people.

Always nice to be reminded of OUR rights.

The best argument against democracy is a five minute conversation with the average voter
-Winston Churchill

Pilgrim - By the way...9 months, three weeks, and three days. Then I won’t have to worry about it any more.

Are you kidding? That’s when you’ll need to worry about it more than ever. You’ll be on the other side at that point.

The police will be an enemy to be avoided. The rough and tumble knuckleheads are taking over.

Sorry, Whistler.  You may want to make a case that there are MORE now than ever, but there have been cops that you absolutely need to avoid talking to since they gave out the very first badge.

You’re undoubtedly right.  In fact the founders likely had a reason to stick that ‘ole 5th amendment into the Constitution.

What’s going to happen to US industry when the global warming extremists like John McCain double the price of electricity?  I would think all these factories will close and set up in countries where they aren’t scared of technology.

Pilgrim.

Im currious about something. If a person is brought in for questioning, and that person pleads the fifth, how long can they hold him/her?

second question:  If you are being held for questioning, can the police deny you sleep or bathroom breaks?

Pil,

I, like you, would want my child to be punished if they did commit a crime.  On the other hand, I have told my teen aged daughter repeatedly, “do not talk to the police before you talk to me. Period.” Why?  Because she can not know what they may be trying to charge her with.  She may think that she’s admitting to, for the sake of argument, shop lifting, but they have her there because the store manager claims to have been assaulted.  If she is guilty, there will always be time to confess and take the lumps, but on my terms not theirs.

Mickey,

The law holds that the person can be detained for a “reasonabe” length of time. What’s reasonable? There is no concrete rule for that that I know of. Most agencies will go anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. Most suspects will cooperate for that long before they either lawyer up or tell you to charge them or let them go. When you say, “Lawyer” it’s over unless they charge you, two minutes or thirty.

If it were me on the hot seat I’d say “Lawyer” the second Miranda came out of their mouths. Interview over. Have a nice day.

And, no, they can’t hold you long enough where denial of sleep becomes an issue and if they deny you bathroom breaks the phrase “unreasonable” comes into play. That’s a VERY bad word in court for law enforcement.

Election ‘08 - We Are So Screwed

And, no, they can’t hold you long enough where denial of sleep becomes an issue and if they deny you bathroom breaks the phrase “unreasonable” comes into play. That’s a VERY bad word in court for law enforcement.

Except it does happen, and they sometimes get convictions from it.  The forced confession (involving force as well as sleep deprivation) of the “Norfolk Four”, when any person with a brain could work out that it was the work of a single assailant, is a classic example of that.  In Virginia, apparently once you’ve signed a confession, even when it’s clearly under duress, that counts above the physical evidence in the case and the confession of the sole perpetrator.

If it were me on the hot seat I’d say “Lawyer” the second Miranda came out of their mouths.

The problem is that you’re in jeopardy before they give you the Miranda warning. 

It seems that a prudent person would refuse to talk to the cops at all, even if you don’t know that a crime has been committed.

I think that’s a problem for society.

What’s going to happen to US industry when the global warming extremists like John McCain double the price of electricity?  I would think all these factories will close and set up in countries where they aren’t scared of technology.

The purpose of police is to arrest criminals so they can be removed from society.

For the purpose to be achieved, criminals have to exist.

To ensure the purpose is being fulfilled, everyone must be made a criminal.

I’m not against police, I’m against the institution who’s own actions are designed to keep them in place and keep them needed.  A proper evaluation of a police officer’s department and the prosecutors would be if the reports of crime are going up or down.  If they are going down, then they are succeeding in actually eliminating crime.  If they go up, they are not doing their job.

To ensure the purpose is being fulfilled, everyone must be made a criminal.

Excellent!
The police and the courts are just like the congress, executive branch, the military and the social sevices in that they have to justify themselves in order to keep getting funded by you and me. If that means we need more criminals, enemies, or helpless citizens, they just make sure there is a never ending supply by changing the definition of these groups.
EVERYONE IS A CRIMINAL IN THIS COUNTRY
The police are not your friend unless you are a victim of crime, and then only if THEY deem your incident is worth investigating. If you say anything you dont have to say to the police, you are a fool.

Sorry, I know some cops will find this offensive, and I feel for the job you all do. It aint easy, I know first hand. Some of you cops are good, some of you are not. Why take the chance, when we are all criminals in one way or another.

Finally got around to watching these videos. They should be required viewing for the young buck hot headed “police” officers in my community who believe that they have powers far beyond what they have been granted.

Cases in point,

Sometime in 2004 or ‘05, while walking through an empty parking lot, an officer abruptly stops his car in front of me and asks for my name, ID, and purpose. After he threatened me with littering for flicking cigarette ash (not the cigarette butt mind you, but the ash) into the wind, I politely denied this unhinged character’s requests of everything beyond my first name. The officer then proceeded to yell “fucking asshole!” (real professionals, the cops in my community) as I was walking away.

Feb 2008, while walking down the street an officer abruptly stops his car behind me and bellows out, “Do you have an ID, I need to see it.” It was not a question. Since this one wasn’t an officer of the law, but rather a gangster with a badge, I reluctantly complied with his demands.

May 2008, while walking down the street, an officer abruptly stops his car in front of me and bellows, “I need to see your ID, you’re a suspect.” Once again, since this one wasn’t an officer of the law, but rather a gangster with a badge, I reluctantly complied with his demands.

I get asked for ID more times when I’m walking than when I’m driving. Apparently one needs a license to walk in my community.

Lesson: cops are not your friend. NEVER work with them. Treat them as an enemy while exercising a delicate balance of courtesy and detachment.

Funny thing.

Just last night, while walking down a street, three local conniving cops wanted information and a search and one says to me, “if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about”.

Sound familiar?

To which there was only one response:

Stand up straight. Be polite. Use “sir”. Be direct. “Respectfully, I disagree sir.” Explain the purpose of the Fifth Amendment and show an understanding of how it protects everybody who invokes it. Ignore the intimidation and foul language. Answer the Supreme Court when one asks, “oh yeah, who says that?”.

From then on out: Offer nothing. Affirm nothing. Look straight ahead. Use good posture. Tell them no story. Hands by side. Remain polite. Eye contact when talking.

No search if the cops are straight. These local conniving cops weren’t exactly straight, but straight enough to respect that one. They already had my ID. I had missed my chance at denying it properly.

Two friends needed to be told, “be quiet”. One offers to let them search him.

America is a country where the police are absolutely powerless to search you if you don’t let them. They need evidence and probable cause. We are unique as a country in that way.

As a young guy, I have to protect myself and offer the police nothing. There’s a good chance that I will fit the profile of some lawbreaker out there (late 20’s, brown hair, good clothes, goatee, white) and I don’t want to give the police anything that could come back onto me. They don’t know where I’m going, what I’m doing, or where I’ve come from. All that they need to know is that I’m [first name] from [my home city]. Offer nothing because there is too much of a possibility of the truth being put into doubt, which can then turn an innocent truth into an incriminating statement bringing conviction. At that point, the fault lies solely with the defendant. He should have kept his mouth shut.

There’s my argument and this time, it’s coming from someone who just went through it and who somewhat successfully (they still got my ID) retained my rights.

By the way, the one cop out of the three who took charge of the situation said that it was smart that I knew the law. And, no lie, he looked a lot like Vic Mackey from the TV show The Shield (awesome show). He was even about five foot six. I wanted to break out a big shit eating grin and tell him, but thought better of it.

America is a country where the police are absolutely powerless to search you if you don’t let them. They need evidence and probable cause. We are unique as a country in that way.

We will be less unique after the FISA vote today.

Lik

They need evidence and probable cause. We are unique as a country in that way.

Anyway, they can search whatever they want. Period. Maybe the charges will get thrown out in court, but it doesn’t stop those blowhards from rifling through all your stuff in the meantime.

I have had cops threaten to throw me in jail overnight for refusing a search. And I had been charged with, and could have been charged with, nothing. I replied, “Do you value your job? Would you like to have it next week?”

I prefer to keep my lawyer’s card in my pocket. If things get out of hand, I merely express concern for my rights, explain that I am not qualified to enforce them properly, and explain that when my lawyer arrives and can help educate us all about my rights… then I will engage them… through the lawyer.

Then the cops start shaking with anger. Nothing like challenging a little-dick Nazi. They don’t take it too well. Generally they’ll let loose a string of four letter words and start to get rash. Then they fuck up. As long as they violate your rights, which it is easy to instigate them to do (especially the saplings), you’ll never get charged with a damn thing.

I find rights violating cops to be great, especially when its time to nicely explain to the judge how an impatient and irrational cop abused your constitutionals.

But Lik is right. Remain calm, collected, and act polite without budging an inch. It’ll look much better when its time to explain it to the judge. Also, every cop is a lying sonofabitch, and will purger himself in a second, no matter how holy the court, so if you can bring a witness, do it.

Lestat - We will be less unique after the FISA vote today.

You do little more than spread FUD around and muddle conversations with your inanities.

Here’s the reality,

Limitations- An acquisition authorized under subsection (a)--

* `(1) may not intentionally target any person known at the time of acquisition to be located in the United States;
* `(2) may not intentionally target a person reasonably believed to be located outside the United States if the purpose of such acquisition is to target a particular, known person reasonably believed to be in the United States;
* `(3) may not intentionally target a United States person reasonably believed to be located outside the United States;
* `(4) may not intentionally acquire any communication as to which the sender and all intended recipients are known at the time of the acquisition to be located in the United States; and
* `(5) shall be conducted in a manner consistent with the fourth amendment to the Constitution of the United States.