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Woman With Police-Monitoring Blog Arrested
Kris Thalamus writes "The Washington Post reports that a Virginia woman is being held in custody by police who allege that information she posted on her blog puts members of the Jefferson area drug enforcement task force at risk. 'In a nearly year-long barrage of blog posts, she published snapshots she took in public of many or most of the task force's officers; detailed their comings and goings by following them in her car; mused about their habits and looks; hinted that she may have had a personal relationship with one of them; and, in one instance, reported that she had tipped off a local newspaper about their movements. Predictably, this annoyed law enforcement officials, who, it's fair to guess, comprised much of her readership before her arrest. But what seems to have sent them over the edge — and skewed their judgment — is Ms. Strom's decision to post the name and address of one of the officers with a street-view photo of his house. All this information was publicly available, including the photograph, which Ms. Strom gleaned from municipal records.'"
They are too busy watching American Idol and jerking off to Glen Beck et al.
And how is this different from watching the Daily Show and jerking off to Bill Maher et al?
"The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
They have a lot to hide, and for legitimate reason. Undercover officers face the possibility of violent death on a daily basis, and avoiding that chance comes down to keeping their real identity and their assumed identity separate. This woman is clearly trying to put the police and, by posting address information, their families in danger. She can post what bullshit she wants about public information, free speech, etc., the point of her blog is simply and obviously the harassment and endangerment of cops. She should be forcibly moved to a high-crime area and forced to fend for herself.
I prefer rogues to imbeciles because they sometimes take a rest.
Senators, rock stars, movie stars, etc, are public figures and in the public eye. You give up a lot of privacy when you become a public figure (i.e. the paparazzi are allowed to follow you). That goes along with the job description. And, you enter those professions knowing this to be the case. Police officers, while public servants, are typically not public figures.
What this woman did was stalk with intent to harass a police officer.
She identified officers involved in the various task forces.
She directly and indirectly placed those officers and their families in jeopardy.
She reduced the effectiveness of law enforcement in that town.
She should rot in jail.
Because in their professional capacity the police are agents of the state. My employer is not the state.
When you choose to seek the power that the police (or elected officials, for that matter) wield, you forfeit the right to be treated as a regular Joe Citizen.
"You can either have software quality or you can have pointer arithmetic, but you cannot have both at the same time."
Firefighters do not have the ability to strip a citizen of their rights.
Police do, and their ability to strip a citizen of their rights doesn't go away when they are off-duty (please don't bring up "citizen's arrest," people, it is a largely ignored concept for a reason). They are entrusted with large responsibilities, so the case for monitoring them is vastly different from that of a regular citizen.
"You can either have software quality or you can have pointer arithmetic, but you cannot have both at the same time."
No, they are not "just like anyone else." When you are entrusted by the state with abilities that a normal citizen does not have, you willingly put yourself under the microscope.
The same goes for elected officials.
"You can either have software quality or you can have pointer arithmetic, but you cannot have both at the same time."
A police officer does not stop being able to restrict your rights by arresting you when he is off-duty. Therefore, they do not have the same privilege of privacy.
"You can either have software quality or you can have pointer arithmetic, but you cannot have both at the same time."
Your just incapable of reading comprehension aren't you? The most you can do is the insult people and use the F' word repeatedly as if it makes your comments courageous, correct, and insightful. It doesn't. It makes you sound belligerent, stubborn, and hateful.
I don't think it's bad to monitor the police. I think it's bad when you post the private details about an active undercover officer along with his current location and activities. That's obviously okay with you since you want to see all the police stopped no matter what.
That's fine. Just don't try to act like you support a reasoned position. You don't. You have already stated these people are less than human beings, so don't purport to support freedom as much as you support these people being in danger and most likely being killed.
Your tactics of passionately demonizing me as against America are in accordance with the finest traditions of fundamentalist douchebags this country has seen. Why make sound arguments when you can create evil enemies that must die at all costs?
Right back at ya'
I'm glad that I can use reason and logic and not irrational hate-filled positions about how *ALL* police, military, and government are intrinsically bad. You can only see things in black and white and viciously attack anybody that does not share your beliefs and pick up the torches and pitchforks right along with you.
Well, I am not like you. I can calm down and realize there is a difference between oppression and some citizen actively putting somebody else in *real* danger.
Of course, that's okay with you... since those people deserve to die. Right?
Well then what you are waiting for? These people aren't even human. Fuck em'.
You can still make the late-night news. Get your assault weapons and go kill them.
You aren't making any reasoned positions at all. It's laughable. You are just rationalizing your hatred. Well stop just writing about it. Get to the killin'
It's so obvious, it's ridiculous. I don't need to refute them. That's like needing to refute your statements that the Sun is purple. Hmmm... Okay....
Without the police and military there would be anarchy, or we would be taken over by people far worse. History has already demonstrated that without some type of police force, you rarely have order in societies as large as ours. But that's okay. Stick to your position that all police and military are bad.
Maybe, you have the position that we should all be armed? That the defense of our property is up to us alone? Sounds like anarchy to me. No rule of law, no order, nothing.
Refute? Really?
Yeah... and the real world is that you don't "Salt the Earth" to solve your problems. Or scorched earth if you will. The answer is not zero police, it's better trained, better paid, better watched police. You won't get there with your attitude.
Pretending your anything other than a hate-filled fundamentalist militant would be DISHONEST. You are not fighting for my freedom. You just want to kill cops.