I have to admit, when I first heard this on the news this morning I was ready to declare this girl the dumbest person alive and advocate throwing the book at her. I thought it must be another MIT prank. Then I saw this picture.

The thing on the left is clearly not a bomb to anyone that knows anything about electronics. The person on the right used really poor judgment. Neither is criminal. They are charging Star Simpson with possession of a hoax device. It’s a bread board a battery some LEDs and some jumpers(short pieces of wire). A bread board is used by technicians, students, whoever to assist in designing and building an electronic circuit. Electronic components can be “plugged” into the bread board and “unplugged” to build a circuit. It’s used to build test circuits. As an electronics guy myself that is a really bush league setup she has there. It was clearly put together in a hurry. It was a REALLY bad idea to wear it into Logan Airport with the level of paranoia today. But it’s not a bomb and wasn’t intended to be a hoax bomb.

How many terrorists outside of Hollywood put lights on their bombs?!?! When terrorists try to sneak bombs onto planes they generally try to conceal them, not wear them in the middle of their chests with lights in star shaped patterns on them!!! Think about this people. It’s a young girl that had a serious lapse in judgment.

I will be following this as she doesn’t deserve a criminal record for this. Once they figured out what they had she should have gotten a stern lecture about how stupid it was to walk in there with that and that’s it. She should be back on campus with her sweatshirt and “artwork” feeling quite embarrassed. I don’t knock the police reaction to the report they got. Until they had control of her and could inspect what she had all they knew is someone thinks she has a bomb.

NBC17 Link

Under a new school rule, students at Hobbton High School are not allowed to wear items with flags, from any country, including the United States.

Another zero tolerance, zero thought, zero accountability policy. Just a blanket ban that makes very little sense. I am sure that they did this to prevent kid from displaying “gang colors”. I don’t think the American Flag qualifies as “Gang colors” but apparently it is to these people.

Gayle Langston said her daughter, Jessica, was told to remove her Stars and Stripes t-shirt.

And on September 11th of all days. Our forefathers must be rolling in their graves.

This is an update to an earlier post regarding the Massachusetts’ Attorney General’s stance on immigration. The original post can be read here. Well here is the non answer I received today from Carollyn Ward who apparently is on the AG’s staff.

Thank you for contacting the office of Attorney General Martha Coakley. This office is pleased to hear from all concerned parties on important issues facing the Commonwealth. Illegal immigration is a critical issue for our country and must be dealt with in a comprehensive and thoughtful manner that addresses the undocumented immigrants living in the United States as well as public safety issues.

Federal law governs immigration policy and enforcement. As a state entity, the Office of the Attorney General does not have any enforcement authority when it comes to violations of federal immigration law. In answer to your specific question regarding the use of state police, that policy decision was made by Governor Deval Patrick. Governor Patrick determined that the use of the Massachusetts State Police to enforce federal immigration law undermines the growth of a positive relationship between law enforcement and immigrant communities.

Again, thank you for contacting the Attorney General’s Office. Please do not hesitate to contact us in the future with additional questions and concerns.

Sincerely,

Community Information and Education Division

As you can see, I didn’t get an answer as to the Attorney General’s stance. I got a canned party line answer, that indicates to me that no one actually took anything I had to say in my letter under any level of consideration. At least not enough to actually read and understand the questions I was asking. Apparently someone needs to educate the “Community Information and Education Division” in the area of reading comprehension. Because it’s clear to me that her staff caught the key words and just sent off the canned answer without actually comprehending the questions.

So I resent them with a request that my question actually be addressed by the AG herself and I don’t just get a canned party line answer from some staffer that couldn’t be bothered to actually consider what I was asking.

Here is my reply:

I am resending my original questions because there was no answer to them in the reply I received. I don’t care who sets the policy and I don’t care if it’s technically the federal governments responsibility to enforce immigration law. My questions are as follows,

1. Are you in favor of enforcing immigration laws or are you in favor of setting an example that our laws are meaningless?

2. Are you in favor of deporting illegal aliens, especially ones that are already in custody for other offenses, or in favor of risking further tragedies such as the one in Newark New Jersey?

I am asking the Attorney General for her position on these questions and not the party line. I am not asking for the Governor’s position, I’m not asking for the federal government’s position. I am not asking for the canned answer that staffers are instructed to send out when certain key words appear in the letter. I’m asking for an real considerate response from the Attorney General herself.

We’ll wait and see what happens.

Mr. Micheal Righi was arrested over the weekend for not allowing his rights to be trampled at a Brooklyn, Ohio Circuit City. Mr Righi purchased two items and was on his way out the door when a Circuit City loss prevention employee asked for his receipt. Mr Righi had people waiting for him and declines with a polite “No Thank You” and went out the door. The LP then called for his manager and he and the manager blocked the vehicle he was a passenger in from leaving the parking lot. Mr Righi called the police and when the officer arrived he was arrested for not handing over his license at the demand of the officer. Since Mr Righi was not driving he does not have to provide his license only his name, address, and date of birth. The officer then arrested Mr Righi and he was transported to the station, booked and released on $300 bail. He was NEVER read his Miranda rights which is required by law.

Please take a look at his site above for ther details and consider a donation if you agree that the police and businesses should not be allowed to trample your rights as a citizen just so their lives are made easier.