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They're trying this in Detroit with city police officers. The deal is basically, you give me $1000 and I'll give you a 3000 sq/ft mansion and $150,000 worth of renovations ... if you'll move into it and live there. Most of the officers aren't taking the deal because it would mean that they lived in Detroit ... their kids would be going to Detroit schools, their insurance rates would skyrocket and so on.

See below for details

http://www.freep.com/article/20110215/BUSINESS04/102150427/Homes-Detroit-s-police-can-buy-low-down-payment

Here's what happens when you just hand a computer to a poor person: http://www.freep.com/article/20101230/NEWS01/101230095/DPS-says-teacher-tried-to-pawn-school-laptop

When we're asking if something is a crime I believe that we're actually asking two things: (1) is it a crime, and (2) should it be a crime? Here, the answer to (1) is pretty straightforward because it's been addressed by the state legislature. The trickier issue is if it *should* be a crime, for example, if the statute is held to be unconstitutional then it would be invalidated; trickier still are public policy issues. In any case I'll focus on the straightforward aspect.

Here's, the Michigan statute in question: Section 752.795 FRAUDULENT ACCESS TO COMPUTERS, COMPUTER SYSTEMS, AND COMPUTER NETWORKS (EXCERPT)

A person shall not intentionally and without authorization or by exceeding valid authorization do any of the following:

(a) Access or cause access to be made to a computer program, computer, computer system, or computer network to acquire, alter, damage, delete, or destroy property or otherwise use the service of a computer program, computer, computer system, or computer network.

(b) Insert or attach or knowingly create the opportunity for an unknowing and unwanted insertion or attachment of a set of instructions or a computer program into a computer program, computer, computer system, or computer network, that is intended to acquire, alter, damage, delete, disrupt, or destroy property or otherwise use the services of a computer program, computer, computer system, or computer network. This subdivision does not prohibit conduct protected under section 5 of article I of the state constitution of 1963 or under the first amendment of the constitution of the United States. [note: the section of the Michigan constitution alluded to here relates to freedom of speech & the press]

History: 1979, Act 53, Eff. Mar. 27, 1980 ;-- Am. 1996, Act 326, Eff. Apr. 1, 1997

As his actions were presumably intentional it appears that the issue is: Were his actions without authorization or did they exceed his valid authorization? According to the following article this is a fact-based issue that will be up to the jury to decide. Essentially "she" claims that the computer was hers alone and the password was a secret and "he" claims that he regularly used the computer and had easy access to the passwords. Ease of access to the password will likely be the determinative factor as to if he had "authorization" to access those emails.

Although his rationale for accessing those emails do not appear to be relevant per the statute, I imagine that it would be an issue when it comes time for sentencing. If instead of finding out that she was (presumably) engaged in adultery with an ex-spouse who (presumably) beat her, how would the prosecutor's office have reacted if he had accessed emails showing that:
- she was a drug dealer?
- she was a child pornographer?
- she was a terrorist?

Is reading wife's e-mail a crime? Rochester Hills man faces trial

In the preliminary exam, Clara Walker testified that although Leon Walker had purchased the laptop for her, it was hers alone and she kept the password a secret.

Leon Walker told the Free Press he routinely used the computer and that she kept all of her passwords in a small book next to the computer.

"It was a family computer," he said. "I did work on it all the time."

My initial question was why the prosecutor's office pursued this case in the first place; the following article discusses Cooper's decision to stop supporting treatment courts due to its need to "deal with the surge in violent crime and the surge in technically complex cases." The pursuit of the case at hand doesn't fit with the purported need to focus on a "surge in violent crime...".

That link seems to go to a detroit redwings blog... the word robonaut isn't even on the page. http://www.freep.com/article/20101208/BUSINESS0101/101208039/1318/GM-robo-astronaut-visits-in-Warren

Sorry but no. This report is full of shit. The reporter were given rides and chances to drive and these claims were answered. The Volt doesn't use the engine to go over 70 and it can never ever drive the wheels. Wouldn't be the first time a reporter was not telling it straight, but all reports I have seen say that the Volt in no way can be driven with generator engine. If you took the batteries out that car will go nowhere. Read in many article that this is all FUD. Not sure why these sources would do this. Makes me think they are on the take from the competition.

Here read for yourself.

No gear sets that switch to whatever. Where do the people on here come up with some of this stuff?

Might this be a attempt at bad PR by the competition? After reading this kind of makes me think it is. It's like most have read misinformation and run with it.

http://www.freep.com/article/20100901/BLOG44/100901029/1437/news05/Student-sues-school-for-self-inflicted-nipple-shock

This one says he's 18. That doesn't necessarily mean he was 18 at the time, but whatever. Even so, if a 17 year old is so stupid to not realize how monumentally stupid this is, well, I don't feel sorry for him, to say the least.

And democrats would never resort to such questionable tactics would they?

Here's a news flash, both sides suck and neither represents the general voting public. If the fanboy idiots of the political world would just realize that, we'd all be better off.

"the angry tea partiers, with their brick throwing and insane murderous anger"

Cite please. I've driven by a couple "Tea Party" crowds and they tend to be fairly well behaved and orderly. A bit older as well. The DC stuff last week ("N word" and spitting) has been thoroughly debunked as a politically convenient lie by the congressmen involved.

The only brick throwing lately has been the opposite: GOP offices have had bricks through the windows (cite: Detroit Free Press) in the past couple of weeks, and one Republican Congressman's office was shot (Cantor, a Jewish GOP guy from VA had a death threat that was verified and resulted in an arrest yesterday). Also Harry Reid supporters were deliberately misdirecting people going to the Tea Party rally last week, and threatening a guy who was reporting and pelting the charter buses with eggs. If you like, search for Kenneth Gladney, a black man who was beaten by SEIU union thugs for supporting the Tea Party outside a rally.

If you go to the net, instead of the MSM or politically tilted blogs, you can see the preponderance of physical violence has primarily been on the statist or anarchist part.

..not so much fun bags

Does anyone, in any country use SMS for more than "meet in bar at 7"?

Absolutely. The former mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick, went to jail as a result of his text messages.

Seriously. Farmville?

I'll do you one better.

I'm annoyed that I need a Facebook account just to receive what we used to call, "Email".

The advantage I see is that open messages can turn into impromptu, albeit simple discussion forums with built-in photo catalogs. This can be more useful than email for some jobs.

But that's not what it's all about, as Farmville indicates. I think Facebook touches some kind of primal-tribal-pack-animal nerve. Farmville itself might represent more than just a dumb game with an addictive tamagachi edge. It might be a subconscious response to the fact that our food supply is precarious and stupid and that survival might fairly soon depend upon being able to raise chickens and grow potatoes in your back yard.

-FL

Cash for clunkers true cost was $24,000 per vehicle. But I don't see a lot of mustangs on the roads
Here are a couple programs that are sieving money.
Or how about a war at home?
Or the ever popular Medicare

" If that show wanted to really get things done, it would have vilified the real culprits in ruining the planet. "

Like the US government?

http://www.freep.com/article/20090807/BUSINESS01/908070382

Dman.. I thought it was a joke
http://www.freep.com/article/20090625/ENT07/90625070/L.A.+Times++Superstar+Michael+Jackson+dead

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31552029/ns/entertainment-music/

I admire your pluck, but Detroit itself may be unrealistic. There's infrastructure, yes, but the police department is borderline non-functional. Startups still need civil order, and that may not be something you can count on in Detroit anymore.

Still, I'm over in Grand Rapids, MI. I've been independent and working from home for years, and decided I'd rather live here, closer to family, than in Atlanta, which admittedly is much more of a tech and VC hub. Not counting on much tech popping up here (GR is a loser when it comes to VC), but I think I can find enough remote work to keep myself going.

The rules of evidence are more strict for law enforcement than for private citizens. That's just the way it is.

ITYM "That's the way it was. HTH, HAND.

Even if they were reporting it, the moment they started acting on the fact the ID3 tags showed leaked albums, people would change all their ID3 tags to leaked albums in protest.

Probably not such a good idea since the Supreme Court struck down the Fourth Amendment.

What law says 100% legal contraband on school property is something police are allowed to confiscate and not wipe their asses with the bill of rights, specifically the 4th amendment?

The fourth amendment is over. Sorry about that.

This right on the heels of a god damned act of treason by Supreme Court just yesterday: http://www.freep.com/article/20090115/NEWS07/90115015 Dude. Chill. First of all, that isn't treason by any stretch of the imagination. One of the other things in the Constitution (which I gather you care about given your comment) is a very narrow definition of treason. From Article III, Section 3 "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort." Bad court rulings aren't treasonous. While we're at it, let's examine the court case in question. The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that in certain contexts evidence from a search was still admissable if someone mistakenly thought they had a valid warrant. That's not necessarily a good idea and at least 4 very good legal scholars disagreed with it but that's not a completely off the wall idea. Keep in mind that many Western European countries often don't suppress evidence at all when there are problems with a search, although the cops in question may be sued or disciplined. The 4th Amendment is still strong. It isn't as strong as it was in 1998 and that should worry us. One is of course also entitled to disagree with this court decision but there's no need for hysterics or calling to put "Every last one of these sons of bitches should be in jail" especially given that four justices dissented from this decision.

This right on the heels of a god damned act of treason by
Supreme Court just yesterday: http://www.freep.com/article/20090115/NEWS07/90115015

Seriously, can anyone tell me ANYTHING whatsoever that the 4th amendment does now?

And just in case anyone out there is still Hoping for Change starting next week: sorry, the New Boss supports this shit too - and he's a "constitutional scholar"!

Every last one of these sons of bitches should be in jail.

It's the 30's not the 20's. I really like the "rebo0ted". "undisclosed glitz" (not that is funny, i don't care who you are. Lets hear it for first to report!!! Get it out quick, get it out early, we'll just change the website if it's DEAD WRONG. That frustrates the hell out of me. "Owners of Microsoft's 20GB Zune music players are reporting widespread failures today after some still-undisclosed glitz caused them to lock up at midnight Pacific time. Users said the units spontaneously reboOted and then froze during the startup process." http://www.freep.com/article/20081231/BLOG01/81231040

Worse, they would even seize computers (such as servers or database farms) that house the data of innocent people, and these people would not have any right to get their data back.

Although I have very little sympathy for copyright thievery — regardless of whether it is exactly or almost the same as thievery of tangible goods — the ease, with which the government can seize suspect's property, and the difficulties facing the ex-suspect in getting the property back are a major problem in our legal system.

There are a lot of safeguards for the suspect's person, but the property (including cash) is hardly protected at all. In Giulliany's New York, drunk drivers were supposed to lose their cars even — on a cop's say-so in a "traffic-court" (run by the Executive branch, not Judiciary). In this illiberal Massachusetts town, a kid would lose bicycles, if caught without a helmet. Police don't need to prove anything — they can just take it using the force we give them to fight crimes. Then, in many cases, the victim — already cleared of all (or most) of the originally suspected wrongdoing — has to sue to get the seized stuff back, and there is no telling, neither what it will cost them (in legal fees alone), nor what condition the stuff will be upon return.

The situation is slowly changing, but on the local levels only. A Constitutional amendment, or other sort of "Miranda rights"-like rule is long overdue.

Meanwhile, why should those accused of copyright violations have it any different? Because some of them could just have been by-standers? Well, if you give your bicycle to a kid, who is accused of riding helmet-less by the cop, you are bystander too. Same with loaning your car to a friend, who is then accused of DUI...

You have been told that your idea of what an assault rifle is was incorrect.

Then I looked it up and found that my definition holds true from most sources. But the issue of how it was classified still has nothing to do with my original statement that Assault rifles are regulated and the Supreme court decision does not change that, and, if you can think of a gun that has been wrongly outlawed simply because it looks cool, then I don't give a fuck. So, you can't feel like a commando when you're holed up in your mom's basement jerking off to a Ron Paul speech. If the gun is no different from perfectly legal guns that are on the market already, then why should I care?

As for those that are designed for military, terrorism, and insane militia guy use, I'm ok with them being regulated. Of course, you have been telling me that those guns don't exist.

However, you don't let facts get in the way of your deluded little world.

The hypocrisy of that statement astounds me. The next time you feel the need to reply to something, do me a couple of favors.

1. Keep me out of it. I don't give a fuck about your paranoid insistence that the world is falling apart because you can't have a cool-looking gun.
2. Try to repeat, in your own words, what you think the other person just said. I'm pretty sure it will be radically different from what was actually said.

You let other people define what is and is not acceptable to you.

That's part of living in a society. People make laws, and you have to follow them, whether you like it or not.

Not once was anybody talking about a "Bullet Spraying Machine" and yet you insist that is the topic of discussion.

Someone mentioned that we need handguns to fight off the government when they get too oppressive, and I may not have been perfectly clear in implying that you would need a hell of a lot more than that. As for my insistence, I insist that I was stating that some weapons, including "bullet spraying machines" are illegal. Then you start on your rant about how the classification system is too subjective for your tastes. That is changing the subject, and putting words in my mouth.

In short, you are a narcissistic moron with whom I do not want to have a discussion.

And you are a paranoid retard with no grip on reality.

You are not going to budge on your assumptions and I will not bend my facts.

Funny how you have not stated one single fact. You stated that assault rifles are defined as scary looking guns, and WERE DEAD WRONG! If i recall, that is the whole gist of the nutty rant you're been trying to drag me into. Then the rest of the conversation has been name-calling and rhetoric.

Perhaps if Detroit wasn't run by a corrupt mayor it's public schools system would be in better shape. Why do African Americans refuse to hold their elected officials accountable when they have clearly committed serious crimes? Marion Barry, William Jefferson, Kwame Kilpatrick and the list goes on. It's a real problem in Detroit going back to the Coleman Young days. Detroit voters would rather stick it to the suburbs by rallying around whichever black candidate paints the other black candidate as being white and in the end the only thing they end up sticking it to is themselves.

Don't believe me? Check out Kwame's State of the City speech and then try and tell me that he isn't trying to rally ignorant African American voters to his side by placing the race card. Read the text messages between himself and the women he was cheating with his wife on. The only person calling Kwame a "nigga" was his mistress.

Detroit is run by a corrupt nigger.

Another interesting item to note:

unavailable article is http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880210045

the AID parameter (Article ID I assume) is YYYYMMDD + ZZZ where ZZZ is a number.

It seems that both

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880210044

and

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880210046

ARE available. Freaky huh?

Another interesting item to note:

unavailable article is http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880210045

the AID parameter (Article ID I assume) is YYYYMMDD + ZZZ where ZZZ is a number.

It seems that both

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880210044

and

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880210046

ARE available. Freaky huh?

Another interesting item to note:

unavailable article is http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880210045

the AID parameter (Article ID I assume) is YYYYMMDD + ZZZ where ZZZ is a number.

It seems that both

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880210044

and

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200880210046

ARE available. Freaky huh?

Similar protest recently in Detroit area. Google lists it but (http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&tab=wn&ned=us&q=scientology+farmington ) voila! The Detroit Free Press article is gone.

If you search the free press site ( http://search.freep.com/sp?aff=117&keywords=scientology )
voila! You are asked for a user name and password when clicking on the link.

It's a two day old article. I have not noticed this on any article from them before (I am local).
I did read it Saturday, but hate to paraphrase, but those solicted for comments compared protesters to communists if I remember correctly.

Wanna bet that his "lower" face is as cheeky as his "upper" face. You'll need to mount a really long-pronged attack to pierce the thick layers of firewall before you even reach the open-relay. Trust me, I've tried on a (willing) guy with similar build, and it's not easy :) It's far easier to goatse a SQL server than a guy like that...

You want to be careful with that stuff. There was a boy who built a breeder in his mother's shed in the ninties using thorium. He was arrested again at the beginning of this month for stealing smoke detectors. He does not look so healthy in his mugshot: http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200708 03/NEWS04/70803062. Sad story. There just isn't any such thing as clean fission. It makes a mess every time.
--
Get clean energy: http://mdsolar.blogspot.com/2007/01/slashdot-users -selling-solar.html

You make a good point, but the fact is that most bottled water is just filtered mains water.

Ya'll are missing it... This robot is like the bomb-removing robots the bomb squad uses. It's a measured, thought out response to events like this, so in the future law enforcement won't become "dying" when gathering evidence from a drug crime scene.

Direct link to recording between the cop and 911 (warning: very funny):
http://media.freep.com/audio/2007/0510potcop_freep .mp3

Check out this article form the Detroit Free Press. The article cites the Michigan speaker of the house and lists the iPod idea amongst others to help the state.... With the condition that the state of MI is in, I'm not suprised that people are popping up (albeit anonymously) blasting the proposal.... I also can see that with a demacratic Governer (Granholm) and a predominately demacratic state house and senate there is a partisan agenda as well....

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/
The bill includes the cost savings by releasing 2400 prisoners. They will Not be given iPods. Instead, each will get a confiscated weapon if they promise to move to Ohio.
Not yet made public is a clause that makes Detroit part of Canada. "We are hoping that the change does Detroit good, moving to a new place can have that effect, you know, and Canada is really very nice,really."

Developing nations have no monopoly on electronics theft. Walk around the poorer sections of Detroit, or Baltimore, or Chicago, or Cincinnati.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20 070131/NEWS07/70131046/1016/BUSINESS03

"the devices have been in place for two to three weeks in 10 cities: Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Ore., Austin, Texas, San Francisco and Philadelphia."

The longtime treasurer of Alcona County was accused Wednesday in an embezzlement scheme in which he may have served as both perpetrator and victim, sending up to $1.25 million in county funds and his own life savings to con artists after falling for one of the notorious online Nigerian banking frauds.

He didn't say "bomb, he said "reactor".
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20 061119/NEWS03/611190639

The GM car has a GENERATOR ONBOARD. This means that it can run as long as it has fuel for the generator. The generator spins at optimum efficiency. Fully electric cars would be great, but the GM car would use the existing infrastructure and increase the fuel efficiency of vehicles. One step at a time. For a nice graphic of how it would work go to the detroit free press website. http://cmsimg.freep.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site= C4&Date=20070107&Category=BUSINESS03&ArtNo=7010706 29&Ref=AR&Profile=1014

Where is Gerald Ford when our nation needs him to rescue us from a cowboy?

Ohio Creates 'Pre-Crime' Sex Offender Registry


In a scene right out of Spielberg's vision of Philip K. Dick's classic short story the state of Ohio has established a pre-crime registry for sex offenders--even if they've never been charged with a crime!

"The person's name, address, and photograph would be placed on a new Internet database and the person would be subjected to the same registration and community notification requirements and restrictions on where he could live."

I can't wait to see how this is going to affect the current trend that has divorcing women making false accusations against their husbands during the custody phase of proceedings! Then there's the way this (being that it is a civil matter) can be expanded to encompass so many other things...

Could this new registry be away for the homophobic to reverse the trends towards civil rights homosexuals have achieved in recent years? What about the affect this can have on children engaged in normal sex play for their ages? I'm reminded of Ryan Zylstra, Leah DuBuc, Laura M. Wilcox, Genarlow Wilson and other teenagers and children who have had their lives ruined by this type of hysteria and the lack of due process that comes with it. And who can forget the vigilantes who murder people they find on these lists? People like William Elliott, who was placed on the registry at age nineteen for having sex with his two weeks shy of sixteen year old girlfriend and thanks to the registry murdered.

Now they want a civil registry they can place people on without the benefit of a conviction or a jury trial? Next thing you know they'll be pushing for a pink triangle on your ID! Oh wait... Well just remember that when you give up your rights one by one, you're doing it for the children....

I'm posting the original submission because I believe anyone who follows the links here will see quite clearly how bad this is even beyond the usual Constitutional violations. This is a law that will harm the very same people it purports to protect!

--I*Love*Green*Olives

you have no FUCKING clue what the ground reality is. You would seem to think we go out of our way to kill Iraqi civilians. Wrong. We have our strict rules of engagements.

Was Abu Gharib within those rules of engagement? How about the torture in guantanamo bay? The thing is, you're right, we have no fucking clue, and I'll bet if we knew the whole story it would look a helluva lot worse than it is. you can look at yourselves through rose coloured glasses if you like, the rest of the world with a half a brain knows what this war is really about.

You don't even know why you're there. First it was because Saddam had WMD's. Now that ya'll look like fools in the eye of the world and have turned up nothing, y'all simply change your mission objectives to say it's to liberate the Iraqis (who incidentally did not seem to want you there at all).

I admit I don't have as much of a clue as I'd like. I point you to articles like this where you have the police policing the police, only answering to themselves. I don't buy it and you shouldn't either.

I'm dying to hear what the conservative side (FOX News) has to say about this. I want the see the look on Bill O'Reilly now and how he's going to slander the ACLU and The New York Times on the next Factor show.

Pass Concealed Carry Laws. If muggers knew they could get a cap in their ass, they'd think twice before committing these dastardly deeds.

Yeah, because as a resident of Michigan, that has allows allowing you to carry concealed weapons, crime rates in cities like Detroit and Flint have dropped so much since those laws passed and citizens started carrying concealed weapons ... oh wait ... (and this is just one example I found quickly while scanning one of the websites of a local newspaper)

...there's no way in hell that august body is gonna rule against Prez...

"IT staff usually enjoy unrivaled access to the deepest details of an organization's structure, and all too often, some submit to the urge to use that knowledge for nefarious purposes.

At least we can count on the police to put a stop to this.

http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/21.58.html#subj5

[According to the third Detroit Free Press story, a cop who stalked a woman
using his access to police databases was "suspended for a day without pay."
That'll teach 'em! --Declan] [FROM POLITECH]

> Date: Sat, 04 Aug 2001 02:08:36
> From: "Ed Walker"
> Subject: Michigan cops abusing database

> www.governing.com/news had a link to a freep article that may be of
> interest to politechnicals. The first two links are the story, and the
> third is an account of a truly creepy cop stalking someone he met while on
> duty.

> Michigan Newspaper: Police Abuse Database Police throughout Michigan,
> entrusted with the personal and confidential information in a state law
> enforcement database, have used it to stalk women, threaten motorists and
> settle scores. Over the past five years, more than 90 Michigan police
> officers, dispatchers, federal agents and security guards have abused the
> Law Enforcement Information Network, according to a Detroit Free Press
> examination of LEIN records and police reports. More: Detroit Free Press
> http://www.freep.com/news/mich/lein31_20010731.htm
> http://www.freep.com/news/mich/lein1_20010801.htm
> http://www.freep.com/news/mich/amber31_20010731.ht m

"IT staff usually enjoy unrivaled access to the deepest details of an organization's structure, and all too often, some submit to the urge to use that knowledge for nefarious purposes.

At least we can count on the police to put a stop to this.

http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/21.58.html#subj5

[According to the third Detroit Free Press story, a cop who stalked a woman
using his access to police databases was "suspended for a day without pay."
That'll teach 'em! --Declan] [FROM POLITECH]

> Date: Sat, 04 Aug 2001 02:08:36
> From: "Ed Walker"
> Subject: Michigan cops abusing database

> www.governing.com/news had a link to a freep article that may be of
> interest to politechnicals. The first two links are the story, and the
> third is an account of a truly creepy cop stalking someone he met while on
> duty.

> Michigan Newspaper: Police Abuse Database Police throughout Michigan,
> entrusted with the personal and confidential information in a state law
> enforcement database, have used it to stalk women, threaten motorists and
> settle scores. Over the past five years, more than 90 Michigan police
> officers, dispatchers, federal agents and security guards have abused the
> Law Enforcement Information Network, according to a Detroit Free Press
> examination of LEIN records and police reports. More: Detroit Free Press
> http://www.freep.com/news/mich/lein31_20010731.htm
> http://www.freep.com/news/mich/lein1_20010801.htm
> http://www.freep.com/news/mich/amber31_20010731.ht m