Category: Fourth Amendment

Think Twice Before Calling Cops. Is the Risk Worthwhile?

~ Pharmer

The cops seem to be much more likely to use extreme or disproportionate force if news trends have any relationship to reality.

Samantha Ramsey is dead at age 19 after trying to leave a field party in Hebron, Kentucky.  This conflicting story is moving into national news, likely because both accounts of police action seem to indicate the use of inappropriate force.  The police account states that the Ramsey refused to stop her car as ordered, rammed the officer, Tyler Brockman, propelling him onto on the hood.  The cop drew his gun and shot four times into the car (with three occupants), killing Ramsey, the driver. One of the occupants disputes the police story, and claims that he was not rammed, and that  he jumped on the hood and shot first. The officer in question is now on administrative leave, and the Sheriff’s office is keeping quiet about the incident, thus far.

Another party crasher story details the firing of Tennessee cop, Frank Phillips, who choked a non-resisting student who was being arrested for disorderly partying.  Photos taken by a freelance photographer seem to indicate clearly that there was no justification for rendering the student unconscious while he was being cuffed. The Knox County Sheriff demoted all of the officers associated with this particular incident.  (It IS an election year).

The DC Clothesline blog, details other recent cases of police over-kill, including separate incidents of two teens killed by cops who were summoned for assistance.  In another case, an elderly man was beaten by cops, and now  faces charges after he called an ambulance for help with his wife’s behavior.  The woman, who suffers from dementia, has been removed to a nursing facility, while the man is suing cops for assault.

The take home?  Militarized style police raids and disproportionate uses of force have risen precipitously.  Calling the cops could result in unnecessary injury or fatalities.  Think twice about whether the call is worth the risk.

 

School Suspends and Charges Student for Father’s Fishing Knife Found in Car

~ Pharmer

The performance of Northwest High School officials in Clarksville, Tennessee joins the lineup of Stupid Educator Tricks, featured on this blog. The officials  are accompanied by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s dept, which is levying weapons charges against a high school kid who made the mistake of borrowing his father’s car.

David Duren-Sanner’s future is put on hold, because his father, a commercial fisherman, had a fishing knife inside the car, which David parked on school property. David gave permission for a random search of his car to be searched during the school’s lockdown exercise, likely because he had no idea that his father’s knife was there.

Now David has 10 days suspension, 90 days at an alternative school, on probation, and is facing weapons charges. Peggy Duren, David’s grandmother, with whom he is living, claims that this is his first disciplinary trip to the H.S. principal’s office. “Guilty until proven innocent” is how she describes the zero tolerance policy to Clarksville’s News Channel 5.

There is a petition online if you’d like to weigh in on one more whacko method of teaching kids to disrespect authority, exercised by the Northeast high school officials and the Montgomery County Sheriff’s dept.

Or you could click on the name and tell Principal  Galea Jefferies exactly how you feel about the handling of this situation.

Perhaps they should be asked what positive incentive would a kid have to  obey the law, if he can be so heavily  penalized for a normally legal item which is found  in a car that he has borrowed??

North West High School, Clarksville, TN
North West High School, Clarksville, TN

Viral TSA Blogger Unmasks (Capitalist System at Work)

~ Pharmer ~ 1 Comment

The man behind the Taking Sense Away, TSA blog on WordPress decided to reveal himself to the world, publishing yesterday in the Politico.

see modern survival blog
see Modern Survival Blog

Jason Edward Harrington is working on a novel based upon his experiences as a TSA employee (paid to grope passengers at airports).  Hopefully the remaining, capitalist vestige of the economic system will reward his efforts.  Up to this time he’s been exposing the antics and inside stories of the TSA anonymously, first as an employee, working through college, then from the outside while in graduate school.

A portion of what news stories have carried about the workings of the TSA has come from Harrington’s blog.  Be sure to take a look, if you haven’t seen it already.  The January 30 entry will lead you to his piece at the Politico, entitled: Dear America, I Saw You Naked, and yes we were laughing.  Confessions of an ex-TSA agent.

Extensive Probings- the Lawsuit

~ Pharmer

 

The hose that goes there
Extensive probings

The story of  David Eckert, the New Mexico victim of a colonoscopic drug search continues with a settlement of a portion of his lawsuit.   This is an extremely fast offer from the cops of the city of Deming, and Hildago County, where the probe was conducted.  So far, Mr. Eckert stands to collect 1.6 million dollars.  Suits against GILA REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER and doctors Robert Wilcox, M.D. and Okay Odocha M.D. continue.

Recalling from the initial story of a huge violation of 4th amendment rights, and a massive breach of medical ethics, the above mentioned docs ran a hose from Mr. Eckert’s anus through his large bowel, all the way to his cecum, looking for drugs.  In doing so, they risked the possibility of breaking the bags, if there were any, and killing Mr. Eckert. That was only part of the story of a harrowing night spent in police custody, but not under arrest.

Mr. Eckert deserves to be compensated for this assault upon his person, but there is a  major problem with the settlement thus far.   The taxpayers, who had no part in this crime are the ones who are paying for it.  Perhaps the public will need to be more attentive to the stupidity of its government, law enforcement officials, and ancillary personnel to stop this kind of behavior.

Not as bad off as Americans being probed by law enforcement

~ Pharmer

Nearly 30 Men Receive Some of the Worst News Possible Following Invasive Medical Exams | Video | TheBlaze.com.

About 30 patients got bad news from Seattle’s Swedish Medical Center after errors in the sterilization process of their ultrasound probes.  Twenty seven men who had prostate exams this past fall got letters from the center, suggesting that they undergo testing for Hepatitis B and C, as well as HIV.

Pharmer thinks that those patients are not facing as serious a risk as those Americans who are being probed on the side of the road, or at airports by “officials” who don’t wash their hands or change gloves between gropings.

Which Party is Really Regulating Bedroom Activity?

~ Pharmer

Blue State Blues: From ‘Porn Goggles’ to ‘Back-Alley’ Abortions.

Joel Pollak of Breitbart comments on the big sex regulators who accuse the conservatives of intrusion into people’s private lives.   He notes that the left wing in California passed legislation which imposes condom inspections on the porn industry.   Even now they’re suggesting that safety goggles be worn by porn actors to prevent transmission of diseases through fluids getting into the eyes.

The left has laid itself open for all sorts of backlash against the intrusive nature of its governance, from safety seats for 12 year olds, to the myriad smoking regulations and prohibitions.

The latest in the leftie  war on women is a law  allowing non physicians to perform abortions on women.  Californians are now working on a referendum to overturn AB-154, which effectively had legalized back alley style abortion in that state.

 

Extensive Probings: What happens When Cops of New Mexico are Bored?

~ Pharmer

David Eckert is enduring the kind of viral fame he never counted on, in order to warn Americans about the encroaching police state, (and maybe get a bit of $$) for his trouble.  He’s has filed a lawsuit against the City of Deming, New Mexico, and others for violation of his civil rights. Since his story has become an internet sensation, another similar victim of the same police force has stepped forward with a lawsuit.

From The Blaze comes a blow by blow report of the indignities  committed against David Eckert during 12 hours after his detainment by police, during which no charges were filed.
Pharmer has decided to pictorially  represent the ordeal suffered by  63 year old Mr. Eckert at Gila Regional Medical Center.  His body was searched for drugs, subsequent to his  failure to bring his vehicle to a complete halt at a stop sign. An effort was made to consult the medical orders which are visible in the lawsuit documents.  (Background music by Eddie Murphy is available for listening HERE, if desired)

ONE ABDOMINAL X RAY

bowel x-ray
abdominal x ray [random/generic]

NO DRUG CONTAINERS FOUND

DIGITAL EXAM NUMBER ONE

"not what you were expecting"
not what you were expecting

IF AT FIRST YOU CAN’T FIND DRUGS, TRY TRY AGAIN.

DIGITAL EXAM NUMBER TWO

digitally yours
digitally yours

NEVER GIVE UP, FLUSH IT OUT

ENEMA NUMBER ONE

"Saline enema 1 liter high"
“Saline enema at 12 midnight”

NO DRUGS IN THERE?

ENEMA NUMBER TWO

"Saline enema 1 liter high"
“Saline enema 1 liter high “

STILL NO DRUGS IN THERE?

ENEMA NUMBER THREE

 

"Saline enema 1 liter high"
“Saline enema 1 liter high”

NO DRUGS IN THERE?

 

XRAY NUMBER TWO

standard pre-procedural chest x ray
(random/generic)

 PHYSICIANS  DRAGGED OUT THE BIG HOSE  TO PROBE DEEPER, INTO REGIONS WHICH THE COPS HAD NEVER REACHED BEFORE

–COLONOSCOPY!!!

The hose that goes there

Night Life in New Mexico for Police
inner space, the final frontier

NO DRUGS AND NO CHARGES,

BUT GILA REGIONAL MEDICAL CENTER APPARENTLY SENT A $6000 BILL TO DAVID ECKERT FOR THE COLONOSCOPY WHICH  HE  INVOLUNTARILY ENDURED.

Mr. Eckert is suing the City of Deming, and police officers Bobby Orosco, Robert Chavez and Officer Hernandez, Hildago County deputies David Arredondo, Robert Rodriguez, and Patrick Green, Deputy District Attorney Daniel Dougherty and the Gila Regional Medical Center including Robert Wilcox, M.D. and Okay Odocha M.D..

Something not addressed in media coverage, seen by Pharmer thus far, is the unacceptable risk imposed on a suspected drug carrier  by a colonoscopy, which can not only cause a perforated bowel, but also perforate drug containers, and release toxic/deadly  quantities of drugs into the body.  Some people might think that the life of a criminal is not cause for concern,  but there was a time  when medical professionals thought that they should “DO NO HARM” .

**The last two enemas appeared to have been ordered in conjunction with scheduling the colonoscopy.  The police were invited to inspect the effluent from the patient.   A chest X ray, a  12 lead EKG and CBC were also ordered before  the procedure.

Ecuador Considers Asylum to Snowden, Renounces U.S. Trade Benefits

~ Pharmer

Ecuador, a country which depends on the U.S. for about half of its trade, has rejected one of two possible trade preference agreements from the U.S. and is considering asylum to NSA whistleblower/leaker  Edward Snowden.   Apparently the final decision is only made once Snowden arrives in the country and makes his request in person.   Communications Minister, Fernando Alvarez, said that Ecuador “does not accept threats from anybody, and does not trade in principles, or submit to mercantile interests, as important as they may be.”

It’s a sign of increasing global disrespect for the U.S., and its ever more apparent, governmental culture of corruption.

While Obama publicly said he did not want to be wheeling and dealing in agreements with other countries in order to obtain extradition of Snowden, his minions are taking care of that for him.

Senator Bob Menendez, the Senate Foreign relations committee chairman, and a face of corruption himself, has said that he  “will lead the effort to prevent the renewal of Ecuador’s duty-free access under GSP and will also make sure there is no chance for renewal of the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act.”

Pharmer’s inclination is to buy more broccoli and artichokes and whatever other products which are imported  from Ecuador.   It’s worth mentioning that inept U.S.  foreign policy is the means by which other competing powers, with opposing interests, strengthen their influence in South America.

The TSA Was Supposed to Prepare You For Routine Sexual Violations

~ Pharmer

‘Violated’: Women Subjected to ‘Roadside Body Cavity Search’ During Routine Traffic Stop (And Dash Cam Caught It All) | Video | TheBlaze.com.

Two Texas women, Angel Dobbs, 38, and her niece Ashley Dobbs, 24 are suing the TX State Troopers for unlawfully searching their body cavities along the side of the highway, this past July.

The dash cam of the cop car recorded it for all the world to see.  You can determine that the search actually occurred  if you desire to follow the link at the top.

A detail mentioned in the story is that the same latex gloves were used by officer Kelley Helleson to search both women vaginally and anally. The women were initially pulled over by officer David Farrell  for throwing cigarette butts out the window.

It’s like that with the TSA also.    If you have a concern to avoid sexually transmitted infections, you might wish to consider this when flying, and now, when taking a road trip through Texas.