From the Sentinel:
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials remain tight-lipped about the arrests of six individuals in Keene last Wednesday, but have said where the suspects are from.
Of the six arrested, five are Mexican nationals ranging in age from 19 to 36 years old, while one, a 21-year-old, is from El Salvador, according to Chuck Jackson, public affairs officer for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (more…)
It’s not just Pete and Ademo— Massachusetts cops seem to be serial lawbreakers.
When driving to Smith College today to see heroic Afghan politician Malalai Joya, I was pulled over in Deerfield, Massachusetts, a few miles south of Greenfield. (Why? Who knows.)
I received a ticket for having an out-of-date registration and had my car towed.
Fair enough. That’s the law in Massachusetts, and my registration expired back in ’09. I knew the risks of driving my car. (If you were wondering, I’m not intentionally engaging in car registration civil disobedience— the lapse was the result of procrastination, some confusion about the law [much harsher than Texan laws], and coordination problems with my mom [the car’s in her name]. If it weren’t for a minor paperwork delay during the last week, I might actually have had it registered by today.)
But that didn’t satisfy the officer. He went on to interrogate me about drugs in my car. I laughed and answered no, I don’t have any. In light of my personality, and the nature of the traffic stop, it was hard not to laugh. It was an absurd leap. He asked again, and I denied again, still chuckling. (He didn’t seem to appreciate the absurdity of his questions.)
He did a real-life version of “no srsly”— and you should be honest with me because even if you aren’t, I’ll search your car and find your drugs. I did a real-life version of “no fer realz”— and, by the way, don’t you need some kind of probable cause to do that? (more…)
State representatives voted on loads of interesting bills over the last few days. Here are a few–
• Medical marijuana (HB442): passed, with a veto-proof majority
• Permitting audio/video recording of police (HB145): passed
• No permit required for concealed carrying (HB330): passed
• Removing compulsory school attendance (HB542): passed
• Disallow students to vote at their college towns (HB176): failed
• Death with dignity (HB513, sponsored by Chuck Weed): failed
The roll call data provided some surprises from Keene representatives–
• Chuck Weed and Cynthia Chase did not show up.
• Gladys Johnsen and Kris Roberts voted against HB176, permitting videorecording of police. (Why?)
• Steve Lindsey and Sam Hawkes voted for HB330, allowing concealed carrying without a permit.
• Sam Hawkes voted against HB513, death with dignity.
Search through roll call records on your own here. See more recent State House votes at Blue Hampshire, and at Ron Paul Forums.
In the Sentinel’s letter section, Tom and Paula Duston, of Chesterfield, argue that they “feel much safer now”:
Wow, now several Republican state representatives want us to have a “permanent state defensive force” (Sentinel, Feb. 22). These guys would help with disaster relief and “defend the state against invasion!”
We live near the Vermont border and lately have had the feeling that a bunch of liberals could mass at any time on the Vermont side of the border and, with few casualties, invade and take over our state. Of course, the last battle of this invasion would be fought at the Statehouse where our concealed weapons force would hold out to the last man (I think most women are smart enough not to carry a concealed weapon!).
And the stuff about “disaster relief” suggests all kinds of cost savings. Just think of how much our taxes would go down if we didn’t have to train firefighters, the police, and emergency response personnel to deal with things like a crashed and leaking chlorine gas truck on Route 9.
And the Red Cross wouldn’t be always begging for money! All we would have to do is call in our gun-totin’ volunteer militia and they could just shoot the gas away. (more…)
The “mud season” issue of Vermont Commons, the very cool left-wing secessionist journal, has been released.
Some highlights:
• An interview with former Green party presidential candidate David Cobb, regarding his recent work with MoveToAmend.org and corporate rights.
(Michael Badnarik, former Libertarian presidential candidate and Free State Project member participant – though not yet in New Hampshire – was arrested with Cobb when they jointly engaged in civil disobedience at a presidential debate in 2004, crossing a police line while attempting to serve an order to show cause to the Commission on Presidential Debates. “These are not debates, these are infomercials,” Cobb said. Link.)
• Cartoons: (more…)
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