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Minneapolis Star Tribune http://www.startribune.com/ had several stories, which you can find by searching for "Ardolf". Good stories, although not too technical.

The victim, Matt Kostolnik, worked in a law firm, and Ardolf sent messages to the firm. The law firm hired an investigator to figure out what was going on. The investigator tracked Kostolnik's wireless traffic, and fingered Ardolf. Then they sent the cops with a search warrant to Ardolf's house, which produced even more incriminating evidence.

Ardolf turned down a plea bargain on the identity theft charges alone, so they added the child porn charges and went to trial. When he saw the evidence against him, he gave up and pled guilty.

I can remember a handful of cases like this where the victim got out of it because they managed to catch the real criminal. (Wasn't there one recently in England?) I wonder how many cases there were where the innocent victim got convicted.

Death threats against the vice president, breaking into his neighbor's wireless... But no, he didn't stop there. Child porn.

Read deeper.

Think before another knee-jerk mod-up:

It began in August 2008, when Ardolf's new neighbors called Blaine police to report a creepy encounter. Ardolf, they told police, had picked up their 4-year-old son and kissed him. After that, Matt and Bethany Kostolnik said, they intended to just keep their distance from him.

Unknown to them, he began moving to exact revenge.

He created e-mail accounts in Matt Kostolnik's name and used a password-cracking program to hack into the Kostolniks' wireless router. He then sent e-mails -- one containing sexually suggestive language, others containing images of child pornography -- to Matt Kostolnik's co-workers and boss. It was all meant to appear that the e-mails came from Kostolnik. Ardolf also used the bogus e-mail accounts to create a fake MySpace page, which contained a child porn image.

Later, he sent another fake e-mail to Kostolnik's law firm, purporting to be from a woman who claimed Kostolnik sexually assaulted her. The woman was real, the incident was not.

Vengeful neighbor in Blaine pleads to Biden threat, hacking [Dec 17]

The neighbors suspected the guy right away. Fortunately, the investigators listened to the [innocent] neighbors and started looking at the real bad guy.

http://www.startribune.com/local/north/112080854.html?elr=KArks:DCiUHc3E7_V_nDaycUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUoD3aPc:_2yc:a_ncyD_MDCiU

Cops are using head-mounted cameras to record everyone and everything they come in contact with. They like this tool because they control the video. That's what it's really about, controlling information. But when ordinary people record street scenes, that's "bad".

Cops are out in public engaging in public-viewable activity, just like the rest of us. They should expect being recorded and do their job appropriately.

Good 'ol clean coal. For whatever reason, many people today actually believe all coal energy is clean. The reality is, even clean coal is dirty and especially dangerous to coal miners.

IIRC, more people die every year from coal than from the entire history of nuclear energy, even including Chernobyl.

That's a lie, TekGoblin, if that's your real name. You are hereby summonsed to appear in a lawsuit before Judge T. John Ward. To be sued for your infringement of our patents on "a method and apparatus for limited truth delivery through use of over-extensive categories".

December 2007, in MN. We have a winner. I never said that it never could happen, just that it must be very, very rare. It's a big country after all. Now compare this one, to the number of dead/jailed homeowners.

Once I had his name, it was interesting reading more, including details on the raid and settlement "It's a miracle we survived that night.", yes, it was.

Can you tell me the last time a citizen was able to successfully use weapons to defend his property from 'intrusion' by any determined authority, local or federal? Rambo fantasies are so lame.

I would submit this story from Minnesota a few years back. Basic gist was the SWAT team went to the wrong house in the middle of the night, the home owner believing he was being burglarized got his shotgun fired at the SWAT team through a wall hitting 2 of them. The SWAT team returned fire and missed. I don't know what ended the confrontation, but not only was the home owner not injured, his family was safe, he was not brought up on charges, and even won a settlement with the city of Minneapolis. To me that sounds like he was able to "successfully use weapons to defend his property from 'intrusion' by any determined authority"

Anyone can send what they want out the PR newswire for $500

Yep - like this one: "Obama Orders Full Investigation of General Mills Supply Chain Following Food Recalls"

Actually I do know what I'm talking about. Airlines can overbook, but only very small amounts to account for cancellations, late passengers, and typical overhead. If they exceed that, and bump too many customers, they get heavy fines.

http://www.startribune.com/business/99267109.html

On a related note, the suspect in this case appears to have killed himself. A deputy found him hanging in his cell at 4:23 PM yesterday.

Illegal immigration is definitely a bigger issue in the US than it is in the UK, I am from one place and live in the other. Most people held in the UK are asylum seekers who are held until their case comes up for review. The UK has a law that says they aren't allowed to deport people to countries where their life may be threatened. This has caused some stalling in deportations and longer incarcerations. Those people picked up on immigration raids who have no passport are typically released on bail for 6 months - this is a huge problem and most of the time means they are not deported and continue to work illegally. In the US you can be held indefinitely for a possible immigration offense and have no right to a lawyer. Ethnic profiling is a REALLY bad idea. How can you prove that the person is not a citizen? There are documented cases of US citizens almost being, or actually being deported because ICE determined they were illegal immigrants. One sad case was a US citizen of Mexican origin who was mentally ill and deported. USCIS picked up on the mistake when he tried to cross the US border to get home. Another was a born US citizen. He was picked up and ICE believed him to be an illegal Russian immigrant - he was detained and avoided deportation after his family found out about his situation via the news. Just found the story: http://www.startribune.com/nation/14456137.html. Then there's another recently: http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-beat/eduardo-caraballo-puerto-rico-deportion-94795779.html

Are you kidding me? This happens all the time, especially in Arizona (cite: http://www.startribune.com/nation/14456137.html).

A driver's license is not generally evidence of citizenship. And you shouldn't have to carry even a driver's license on a walk outside on pain of potentially weeks of jail time without trial. Having a thick accent isn't a crime either (neither is not speaking English at all, for that matter).

Because speed limits are arbitrary rules put in place by "the man" to keep me down. Every time I speed it is my own social protest against the nanny state.

Speed doesn't kill people, stupid drivers kill people. Great example!

So organ printing is decades away, huh. Man, you're living in the past: http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/13751901.html

The law is full of cruft like this. It's literally dead code. Legislators, by necessity, cannot simply cut code from "the program". They actually have to vote on all the changes. As frustrating as programming can be, can you imagine how it would be if you literally had to have a vote on every commit to the repository?

I used to work in a shop where we printed law books. I got to inspect the printing plates and sometimes had time to read them. My favorite was the law from some mid-western state that put a bounty of $5 on each gopher you shot. I wonder if they ever controlled the gophers. IIRC, it was when $5 was a lot of money.

OK... Google is my friend. it wasn't quite $5. and more amazingly, people are still doing it.

Meh.
Meeeeeeeeeeeep.
Hello, Dr. Murray, http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/odd/69904592.html?elr=KArksDyycyUtyycyUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

Minneapolis police officer Timothy Carson got caught robbing a bank. He has been arrested and charged. The police department is now in the 'process' of firing him. It is somewhat interesting that a cop in another city let him off for committing a minor offense a few minutes before the robbery.

Canada started using U.S. data a couple of years ago. Sadly Canada this is the downside of our arrangement with you. You don't get just the good part of this arrangement.

Or could I live on top of a radio tower and do just fine?

Ya know, it's amazing you should be asking this question. Here's a story from near me that will answer your question.

Surely the riaa can take a lesson from the war on drugs and get the children to turn in their parents and friends for dmca violations!

When a kid reports a drug violation in his family it is most likely because he sees someone in danger.

Metro kids can be 1st to report threats via text

It is an extension of the national Speak Up campaign begun in other cities in 2002. It will also be initiated in New York City this fall.

Texters and callers will be able to notify trained counselors about guns in school and other threats of violence, "without being tagged as a snitch," said Julie Young-Burns, Safe and Drug-Free Schools coordinator for the Minneapolis Public Schools.

Students also may use the tip line to report threats of suicide, domestic violence and substance abuse.

This is the real world of drug abuse:

Inside the Levi King Courtroom: Day 9, Police make arrest in shooting that narrowly missed two small children.

I don't have sympathy to spare for the geek who expects his kid to be a silent accomplice.

You want your free movie fix?

The warez game that retails for $60?

Fine. But don't put the heat on your kids. Don't expect them to take the fall for you.

If anyone rats you out, it's your tough luck, Charlie.

You mean this?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,519699,00.html

Or this?

http://www.startribune.com/local/east/16671951.html

It didn't happen in New Zealand. Probably because our police officers aren't armed in their regular duties.

Mod parent funny at least. (no mod points for me, it's been a long drought)

There's a big ELCA meeting where they voted to acknowledge "chaste" same-sex relationships, paving the way for openly gay clergy.

Funny. He keeps getting reelected with double-digit margins, despite propaganda like you put forth.

This probably has something to do with the fact that he actually has his people enforcing the law, and doesn't waste money coddling criminals. Given the amount of ridiculous benefits we see in most prisons in the US that make prison a "no-brainer" for large numbers of people (see here: people actually trying to get themselves thrown in jail), I'd say I like the idea of making prison as unpalatable a concept as possible.

Of course, this isn't unique to the US. The UK is having the same debate. They just don't also have to deal with a well-funded and ridiculous propaganda campaign based on "legalizing" foreign criminals who jump our borders and cause crime while also having the debate on what prisoners should, or shouldn't, get while incarcerated.

Patent lawsuits are filed in the Texas Eastern District because it's patent troll-friendly. It's an honest to god racket that's even credited with fueling the district seat's economic boom.

There is a reason the press is considered the fourth estate . They serve a role in our society that bloggers and news consolidators do not yet fulfill. Think of the various investigative reports and whistleblower services each good local paper provides. These checks on the system only work when the published report is widely read and available (to be picked up by TV and national media), which is not the case for electronic systems. I think no electronic location has mindshare enough, and generates enough cash to support the staff for this function. In my area all the best reporters have been laid off during the recession and are showing up on a good blog MinnPost. But they can't find a business model or audience (although you can donate to them to help as I have done). But very few of the readers of the papers know that MinnPost exists, it took me quite a bit of time myself. My plea is to consider what happens along these lines when the audience is fragmented to many many blogs with a niche perspective or audience. As an example, Michelle Bachman is my congresswoman and without the papers her silliness would go unnoticed - ironically I am going to link a blog so you can see what I mean, but these all came out in the papers for the entire district to see. The press may be the only think keeping her from the deep end.

BTW the largest electronic readership web site is that of the paper, but without the print edition I am not sure the online edition would survive long.

All kidding aside, there are many ways to stop smoking, and since this is a frivolous thing in many politicians eyes (as well as a burden to the tax payers that have to pay for uninsured people's health care when they get end stage emphasema from smoking their whole lives), you've got a better chance of having those taxes revoked as you are of getting uncensored internet in China.

Not to burst your bubble, but smokers cost less over our lives. As it turns out, there is little more expensive to health care than being old and smokers just don't get as old. Quick citation.

A few other things:
1. I have no problem paying a cigarette tax. At least it's a small disincentive for people starting. I have a problem with hypocrisy. Cigarette taxes are hypocritical for two reasons. First, cigarettes, as billboards and anti-smoking groups are quick to point out, are the number 2 cause of death. What nobody seems to acknowledge is that the number 1 cause of death is heart disease. Where is the fast food/excessive-trans-fat food tax? Second, last I checked (could be outdated, admittedly), most states put LESS THAN HALF of their cigarette taxes into health care.

2. The real reason we tax cigarettes, alcohol, and apparently potentially violent video games, among other "vices" is because it generates state revenue from a minority with far less voting power, and as a whole, America is absurdly income-tax-phobic. It serves the secondary purpose of making the sanctimonious jackasses that run around imposing their 'morals' on others happy. THAT is the real reason none of them will be repealed. It has nothing to do with frivolity.

3. While there are many, and improving, aids to quitting smoking, if my memory serves me correctly, there isn't a single product, including things like prescription inhalers, with a 2-year success rate greater than 25%. I'm pretty sure none of them are even 20%, but I'm being conservative in case I'm remembering wrong. It is not statistically acceptable to be okay with raising cigarette taxes on the grounds that people can just quit. In reality, they will either smoke cheaper cigarettes or order them from Russia... much like with a video game tax, people would either increase their piracy, buy more used, or wait for prices to drop. Nobody is going to pass a game up that they want to play because of some stupid tax.

Anonymous for sake of mod points distributed.

In Minnesota, that works no matter what kind of car it is.

Most of the reviews I've seen so far rate the movie as mediocre, even fans. A couple of reviewers severely panned it, like Colin Covert of the Star Tribune - one star, contains the second worst sex scene in cinema (or something like that - maybe it was just this year...) followed by it also contains the worst (and others round out the top 5), quotes like "Who watches the watchmen? Nobody."

I'd never heard of it before the TV ads. Saw it at a matinee yesterday. $7.25 for the ticket and $5.50 for a Cherry Coke. The Coke was more satisfying. The movie wasn't totally terrible but I'll never watch it again. Visually appealing but overly long and convoluted. I thought Coverts review nailed it.
http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/movies/40792717.html?elr=KArksD:aDyaEP:kD:aUnc5PDiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUr
There's a not real obvious link to additional pages on the lower right before the comments.

After seeing this movie, anyone who thinks it's a turkey is either a moron or saw a different movie than I did

I guess lots of people saw a different movie than you.

This movie deserves the videogame it got.

Chalk up St. Louis Park, MN as another failure: http://www.startribune.com/local/west/34437914.html

I frequent this community and the ugly solar-powered transmitters still litter every other residential block.

If a city of 45K can't pull this off, nor can the bumbling FCC, IMHO.

For example, a voting system that requires "calibration" by unskilled workers in the field is automatically suspect on security grounds, the machines ought to be certified, tested and then sealed tight until they are used on election day.

Good point. They can't even set the clock, given several weeks to do so.

Stable computer timesources isn't an unsolved problem, nor is it a relatively expensive one to implement.

You forgot "at taxpayer expense".

Put him in jail and maybe these adult children will grow up.

...and become police officersin light of that article explain to me how the two are different. And no, having a Badge doesn't count.

You for one.

Your completely ignoring the law enforcements accounting of the situation and pressing the one sided "oh we are innocent" side and your links actually show that.

Unless you meant "you are completely" I don't know what you mean. My completely? Makes no sense. As for my links, as I said before in case you did not understand what I said, I got those links from others. Those links are not mine.

If the cops didn't have solid evidence, the judges wouldn't have issued a warrant.

If they had warrants then why didn't the police show them when they were asked for the warrants? Most were only shown after hours of waiting. Why did they not show the warrants as soon as they were asked for them?

Don't make the mistake that I'm saying the cops are right, I'm saying that informant told them what was going on and they acted on it. That is a good investigation and police work, not some threatening situation or something like your attempting to portray it.

And as one of the links I provided said, those informants only got paid of there was an arrest. Of course you overlook that because it doesn't fit in with your beliefs.

And I looked at a non-biased site and found this.

Perhaps you didn't pay attention but I previously posted 2 links to the same newspaper as you just did. Actually one of them was to the same article.

Yea, and those informants were getting paid only if there was an arrest.

Who cares. If they didn't product enough evidence and someone got killed because of their actions, you would be bitching that they knew and didn't do anything about it

Bullshit. First, so you only care if someone's arrested? Ok, I'll lie to the police so they'll arrest you so I can get paid. If the police wanted the truth they would have paid whether there was an arrest or not, by only paying if there is an arrest you're inviting corruption. Maybe you do mind it but I do, As for what I'd bitch about, so you can read my mind? You're lousy at it. Not only do I bitch about corruption, but in fact I have said a number of tymes I'd rather 1 guilty person go free than to falsely punish one innocent.

the people arrested in the raids and the stuff confiscated along with the information presented by the informants does not point to some innocent intentions or unfounded actions/accusations

How do you know? Ooh, that's right you can read minds.

There were plenty of people in those houses as well as other places in the area who showed no indication of illegal acts and were not arrested nor denied their lawful right to a lawful protest.

Including those who were there to eyewitness and record the raids, and they got detained as well.

That alone debunks your claims of systematic police abuse.

The detaining of those eyewitnesses debunks your claim nothing wrong happened. Even your " non-biased site" said this: "On Saturday afternoon, law agents surrounded 951 Iglehart Av. in St. Paul where members of I-Witness Video, a New York-based group that monitors police conduct during protests, were staying. They were detained and handcuffed but eventually freed without charges. "

Wake the fuck up.

Move to North Korea!

Falcon

You for one.

Your completely ignoring the law enforcements accounting of the situation and pressing the one sided "oh we are innocent" side and your links actually show that.

Unless you meant "you are completely" I don't know what you mean. My completely? Makes no sense. As for my links, as I said before in case you did not understand what I said, I got those links from others. Those links are not mine.

If the cops didn't have solid evidence, the judges wouldn't have issued a warrant.

If they had warrants then why didn't the police show them when they were asked for the warrants? Most were only shown after hours of waiting. Why did they not show the warrants as soon as they were asked for them?

Don't make the mistake that I'm saying the cops are right, I'm saying that informant told them what was going on and they acted on it. That is a good investigation and police work, not some threatening situation or something like your attempting to portray it.

And as one of the links I provided said, those informants only got paid of there was an arrest. Of course you overlook that because it doesn't fit in with your beliefs.

And I looked at a non-biased site and found this.

Perhaps you didn't pay attention but I previously posted 2 links to the same newspaper as you just did. Actually one of them was to the same article.

Yea, and those informants were getting paid only if there was an arrest.

Who cares. If they didn't product enough evidence and someone got killed because of their actions, you would be bitching that they knew and didn't do anything about it

Bullshit. First, so you only care if someone's arrested? Ok, I'll lie to the police so they'll arrest you so I can get paid. If the police wanted the truth they would have paid whether there was an arrest or not, by only paying if there is an arrest you're inviting corruption. Maybe you do mind it but I do, As for what I'd bitch about, so you can read my mind? You're lousy at it. Not only do I bitch about corruption, but in fact I have said a number of tymes I'd rather 1 guilty person go free than to falsely punish one innocent.

the people arrested in the raids and the stuff confiscated along with the information presented by the informants does not point to some innocent intentions or unfounded actions/accusations

How do you know? Ooh, that's right you can read minds.

There were plenty of people in those houses as well as other places in the area who showed no indication of illegal acts and were not arrested nor denied their lawful right to a lawful protest.

Including those who were there to eyewitness and record the raids, and they got detained as well.

That alone debunks your claims of systematic police abuse.

The detaining of those eyewitnesses debunks your claim nothing wrong happened. Even your " non-biased site" said this: "On Saturday afternoon, law agents surrounded 951 Iglehart Av. in St. Paul where members of I-Witness Video, a New York-based group that monitors police conduct during protests, were staying. They were detained and handcuffed but eventually freed without charges. "

Wake the fuck up.

Move to North Korea!

Falcon

Say what?

Umm.. What so difucult to understand? Your completely ignoring the law enforcements accounting of the situation and pressing the one sided "oh we are innocent" side and your links actually show that. You have lost all objectivity and are attempting to lay a false claim.

If there is one. And what if this is one of those "oops we made a mistake" situation? Too bad?

If the cops didn't have solid evidence, the judges wouldn't have issued a warrant. If the judge did issue a warrant without good evidence, then a lawsuit is justified. Don't make the mistake that I'm saying the cops are right, I'm saying that informant told them what was going on and they acted on it. That is a good investigation and police work, not some threatening situation or something like your attempting to portray it.

I have more than one link in my collection:

And I looked at a non-biased site and found this. Notice how when you look for the facts and no opinions over something, you tend to get information from both sides?

As people posted links in the tread, I'd open then in a new Firefox tab then I'd bookmark after reading them.

Like I said, look for the facts and not opinions. This is the cops position.

Yea, and those informants were getting paid only if there was an arrest.

Who cares. If they didn't product enough evidence and someone got killed because of their actions, you would be bitching that they knew and didn't do anything about it. The bottom line is that paying only on a conviction which is the story I originally read actually stops people from making shit up to get money. And no, this wasn't just one person either. Evidently FBI and other operatives have chat logs and other exchanges that led them to what they were looking for when they did the raids. I guess if there is a moral to all this it would be, don't go around bragging on the internet about your planned illegal activities even if you don't plan on carrying them out. And if you do, definitely don't have the materials to aide in those actions on hand when the cops come looking. If informants didn't tell the cops what to look for, they never would have gotten a warrant describing most of the things and people seized before the actually went in and seized the stuff. I mean the fact that the warrant actually spelled out a lot of the stuff found is telling enough, this isn't some innocent gathering and police intimidation regardless of how many biased and one sided videos you want to put forward while ignoring everything else.

And there were no legitimate uses for any of them? Oh and they were all made illegal?

Well, some of the stuff have no legitimate use. But a crowbar is a legitimate tool use for legal purposed until you tell someone your going to use it to break into something illegally or smash someone's head in with it. It then becomes a criminal tool. If you can't understand that then you shouldn't even be discussing this. I'll tell you what, go buy a hunting riffle then start telling your neighbors your going to shoot him with it and see how long before that legal gun become illegal for you to possess.

In other words it's okay to deny people the right to protest just by making an accusation, or paying an informant to make the accusation. I wonder what you would think if that happened to you.

Yes, it is perfectly fine to arrest and detain people in which you have information about planned illegal activity when you raid their houses or search them and find ev

Say what?

Umm.. What so difucult to understand? Your completely ignoring the law enforcements accounting of the situation and pressing the one sided "oh we are innocent" side and your links actually show that. You have lost all objectivity and are attempting to lay a false claim.

If there is one. And what if this is one of those "oops we made a mistake" situation? Too bad?

If the cops didn't have solid evidence, the judges wouldn't have issued a warrant. If the judge did issue a warrant without good evidence, then a lawsuit is justified. Don't make the mistake that I'm saying the cops are right, I'm saying that informant told them what was going on and they acted on it. That is a good investigation and police work, not some threatening situation or something like your attempting to portray it.

I have more than one link in my collection:

And I looked at a non-biased site and found this. Notice how when you look for the facts and no opinions over something, you tend to get information from both sides?

As people posted links in the tread, I'd open then in a new Firefox tab then I'd bookmark after reading them.

Like I said, look for the facts and not opinions. This is the cops position.

Yea, and those informants were getting paid only if there was an arrest.

Who cares. If they didn't product enough evidence and someone got killed because of their actions, you would be bitching that they knew and didn't do anything about it. The bottom line is that paying only on a conviction which is the story I originally read actually stops people from making shit up to get money. And no, this wasn't just one person either. Evidently FBI and other operatives have chat logs and other exchanges that led them to what they were looking for when they did the raids. I guess if there is a moral to all this it would be, don't go around bragging on the internet about your planned illegal activities even if you don't plan on carrying them out. And if you do, definitely don't have the materials to aide in those actions on hand when the cops come looking. If informants didn't tell the cops what to look for, they never would have gotten a warrant describing most of the things and people seized before the actually went in and seized the stuff. I mean the fact that the warrant actually spelled out a lot of the stuff found is telling enough, this isn't some innocent gathering and police intimidation regardless of how many biased and one sided videos you want to put forward while ignoring everything else.

And there were no legitimate uses for any of them? Oh and they were all made illegal?

Well, some of the stuff have no legitimate use. But a crowbar is a legitimate tool use for legal purposed until you tell someone your going to use it to break into something illegally or smash someone's head in with it. It then becomes a criminal tool. If you can't understand that then you shouldn't even be discussing this. I'll tell you what, go buy a hunting riffle then start telling your neighbors your going to shoot him with it and see how long before that legal gun become illegal for you to possess.

In other words it's okay to deny people the right to protest just by making an accusation, or paying an informant to make the accusation. I wonder what you would think if that happened to you.

Yes, it is perfectly fine to arrest and detain people in which you have information about planned illegal activity when you raid their houses or search them and find ev

From TFA:
Deputies seized a variety of items that they believed were tools of civil disobedience: a gas mask, bolt cutters, axes, slingshots, homemade "caltrops" for disabling buses, even buckets of urine.

From another article by the same newspaper:

"The alleged urine, Nestor maintained, was actually three buckets, two of which contained dirty water used to flush toilets while conserving water. The third was seized from an illegal apartment occupied by someone not connected to the RNC protests. There was no bathroom in the illegal apartment and urine was collected in a bucket, Nestor said."

When was all the rest of those items outlawed?

Falcon

From TFA:
Deputies seized a variety of items that they believed were tools of civil disobedience: a gas mask, bolt cutters, axes, slingshots, homemade "caltrops" for disabling buses, even buckets of urine.

From another article by the same newspaper:

"The alleged urine, Nestor maintained, was actually three buckets, two of which contained dirty water used to flush toilets while conserving water. The third was seized from an illegal apartment occupied by someone not connected to the RNC protests. There was no bathroom in the illegal apartment and urine was collected in a bucket, Nestor said."

When was all the rest of those items outlawed?

Falcon

I don't have 5 gallon buckets of Urine..how about you?

Then again, maybe the protesters didn't either. From the Star Tribune article:
The alleged urine, Nestor maintained, was actually three buckets, two of which contained dirty water used to flush toilets while conserving water. The third was seized from an illegal apartment occupied by someone not connected to the RNC protests. There was no bathroom in the illegal apartment and urine was collected in a bucket, Nestor said.

http://www.startribune.com/video/27709809.html?elr=KArks:DCiUHc3E7_V_nDaycUiacyKUU

Might as well hear 'em out, first. There were a fair number of actual weapons and weapon-making materials seized. Not supporting the excess use of force in the raid, but perhaps the raid itself was warranted.

Let's make this a short dance: Call me a "fascist", run away and brag to your comrades about "standing up to a pig."

That's a short dance, I don't have comrades.

Dodo would be more accurate.

Don't you mean you're the dodo? But don't let that stop you.

Try this another way, here you said "We had college-aged, playtime anarchists" however only two of the articles linked to says anything about anarchists, and that was the sheriff calling them "self-styled anarchists". Nowhere does it say the protesters themselves call themselves anarchists. However at least one of them says "both journalists and lawyers -- in addition to protesters -- have been detained and arrested even though not a single violent or criminal act has occurred."

So, who's talking shit?

Falcon

Let's make this a short dance: Call me a "fascist", run away and brag to your comrades about "standing up to a pig."

That's a short dance, I don't have comrades.

Dodo would be more accurate.

Don't you mean you're the dodo? But don't let that stop you.

Try this another way, here you said "We had college-aged, playtime anarchists" however only two of the articles linked to says anything about anarchists, and that was the sheriff calling them "self-styled anarchists". Nowhere does it say the protesters themselves call themselves anarchists. However at least one of them says "both journalists and lawyers -- in addition to protesters -- have been detained and arrested even though not a single violent or criminal act has occurred."

So, who's talking shit?

Falcon

From TFA:

Deputies seized a variety of items that they believed were tools of civil disobedience: a gas mask, bolt cutters, axes, slingshots, homemade "caltrops" for disabling buses, even buckets of urine.

From another article by the same newspaper, the Star-Tribune:

"The alleged urine, Nestor maintained, was actually three buckets, two of which contained dirty water used to flush toilets while conserving water. The third was seized from an illegal apartment occupied by someone not connected to the RNC protests. There was no bathroom in the illegal apartment and urine was collected in a bucket, Nestor said."

As for the rest you list, when were they made illegal?

I'm not saying it's right to raid their houses and arrest them just for having it, but I'm having a hard time coming up with legal ways to protest using buckets of urine and equipment for disabling buses.

One bucket of urine in an illegally occupied apartment, the occupant of which had nothing to do with the protest group. And again, when was the other stuff made illegal?

Falcon

From TFA:

Deputies seized a variety of items that they believed were tools of civil disobedience: a gas mask, bolt cutters, axes, slingshots, homemade "caltrops" for disabling buses, even buckets of urine.

From another article by the same newspaper, the Star-Tribune:

"The alleged urine, Nestor maintained, was actually three buckets, two of which contained dirty water used to flush toilets while conserving water. The third was seized from an illegal apartment occupied by someone not connected to the RNC protests. There was no bathroom in the illegal apartment and urine was collected in a bucket, Nestor said."

As for the rest you list, when were they made illegal?

I'm not saying it's right to raid their houses and arrest them just for having it, but I'm having a hard time coming up with legal ways to protest using buckets of urine and equipment for disabling buses.

One bucket of urine in an illegally occupied apartment, the occupant of which had nothing to do with the protest group. And again, when was the other stuff made illegal?

Falcon

How far does something have to be to the right to count for you? Law enforcement is bought and paid for and working for the people in power.

The FBI says: this.
ABC says this.
Do the police there have a history of unjustified assaults into houses and then trying to pretend that it's okay? Yes, they do.
Are there more police assaults not being mentioned here? Yes, there are. They've been quite busy. Overwhelming force against people who haven't resisted seems to be a constant.
Now, like all of us, I would love to see a more detailed statement from the police. But I've just been looking and what I'm mostly finding is variations on: "Minneapolis/St. Paul police could not be reached for comment Saturday."

Perhaps you should of read more. For instance here's a good read:

"The alleged urine, Nestor maintained, was actually three buckets, two of which contained dirty water used to flush toilets while conserving water. The third was seized from an illegal apartment occupied by someone not connected to the RNC protests. There was no bathroom in the illegal apartment and urine was collected in a bucket, Nestor said."

allowing people to run around with weapons

Unlike Australia in the USA we have the constitutional right to own and bare firearms.

Falcon

From TFA:

Deputies seized a variety of items that they believed were tools of civil disobedience: a gas mask, bolt cutters, axes, slingshots, homemade "caltrops" for disabling buses, even buckets of urine.

I'm not saying it's right to raid their houses and arrest them just for having it, but I'm having a hard time coming up with legal ways to protest using buckets of urine and equipment for disabling buses.

I'm not sure what peaceful demonstrators need with a 5 gallons worth of urine, gas masks and home made caltrop to disable buses.

I'll see your Star_Tribune link, "The alleged urine, Nestor maintained, was actually three buckets, two of which contained dirty water used to flush toilets while conserving water. The third was seized from an illegal apartment occupied by someone not connected to the RNC protests. There was no bathroom in the illegal apartment and urine was collected in a bucket, Nestor said."

Falcon