I have to agree with McFortner completely here, on all counts. Anyone with combat training, or even the training given to concealed carry licensees, should know that a knife is an extremely dangerous weapon which can be lethal in fractions of a second. The police in this case reacted entirely correctly.
I am no fan of the many abuses that some, even many, police officers engage in, but we have to acknowledge that the job of a police officer is fundamentally hazardous. As McFortner said, reaching for *anything* or making sudden moves could reasonably trigger a very strong reaction from an officer who has a family to go home to after his or her shift.
I believe in standing up for my rights, but there is a time and place; the best thing to do is recognize that for the duration of the stop the officer is in charge. Follow your attorney's recommendation to decline to answer questions as necessary, but remember that safety for both the officer and you depends on the officer knowing and approving exactly what you intend to do at any time - no surprises!
Of course, the bodycam video should be released. The chief is clearly being a blockhead here. But a rolling stop was a good reason for the stop, and the reaction to the mention of a knife and the driver's move to get the knife was entirely reasonable.
In two places you refer to the evidence in question as DNA evidence, but in fact this story deals with microscopic comparison of hair. That is, determining if a hair in evidence is substantially identical to a sample from alleged victim, perpetrator, witness, etc. DNA is not in play here.
This kind of comparison evidence has always been questionable, although seldom actually questioned in court.
Can you provide some references? Although I'm perfectly comfortable with the idea that the task is very hard, and we don't know how to build unhackable systems yet, I have yet to see a proof or even a particularly good argument that it is actually IMPOSSIBLE to build a perfectly secure system.
Note that I'm really talking about absolute mathematical or physical impossibility, as in faster-than-light travel, as opposed to really, really hard or even the strong suspicion that it's impossible. Remember the famous words of Lord Kelvin: "Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible." ... it appears that this learned and experienced man was slightly in error.
Perhaps the issue is that we need a good operational definition of an unhackable system against which to test.
While certainly a less than useful comment, "... create unhackable systems" is not in the same class as "... build faster-than-light spaceships" or "... create immortality." Faster-than-light travel and immortality (at least in the literal sense) are known to be physically impossible (that's not just an opinion, as it's supported by a great deal of real evidence, but as with all scientific knowledge it's subject to revision.) Creating unhackable systems is not, however, known to be impossible; we just don't know how to do it yet.
It's worth noting that the Wikimedia Foundation page referenced in the article does not actually say that zero requests for take down were honored (well, at least I didn't see it ... go ahead and make me feel foolish by correcting me.)
The site actually says "0%" were honored, which if they are rounding to the nearest integer using any of the common rounding algorithms could mean that one request was honored.
Just saying.
The current (non)privacy climate sure breeds suspicion and paranoia.
Forgive me my pedanticism, but you're using the word "theory" incorrectly, from a scientific perspective. In science, a hypothesis is published and IF the hypothesis withstands scrutiny (i.e. a lot of testing) and IF the hypothesis provides a generally acknowledged useful way to model physical phenomena (especially to predict additional behaviors not known when the hypothesis was proposed) THEN and ONLY THEN does a hypothesis become a theory.
This is important! For example, when Creationists say "evolution is only a theory" they are almost right ... evolution is a fact that is explained by the Theory of Evolution (i.e. natural selection), which has withstood more than a century of close scrutiny and provides the best explanation of observed phenomena. Similarly, gravity is a fact that is explained by the Theory of Gravity, etc.
I bring this up because scientists often assign a strict meaning to many words that most of us use quite loosely in daily conversation. We read of "legal theories" here, and watch detective shows where everyone has a "theory" about what happened. Scientific theories are a whole different critter, perhaps more akin to a "legal theory" that's made it all the way up to a unanimous validation by the Supreme Court.
" ... and, apparently, they didn't even ask for the proper postage from the recipient, which is a little odd ..."
This isn't odd at all. Note that the stamps are Egyptian (if, in fact, they are real stamps.) Postal services generally deliver mail from one country into their own country without charge. That is, the originating country sets the rate and collects the postage; the assumption is that mail is seldom one-way, and there will be a roughly equivalent volume of mail heading in the other direction.
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Re: Re: stupidity
I am no fan of the many abuses that some, even many, police officers engage in, but we have to acknowledge that the job of a police officer is fundamentally hazardous. As McFortner said, reaching for *anything* or making sudden moves could reasonably trigger a very strong reaction from an officer who has a family to go home to after his or her shift.
I believe in standing up for my rights, but there is a time and place; the best thing to do is recognize that for the duration of the stop the officer is in charge. Follow your attorney's recommendation to decline to answer questions as necessary, but remember that safety for both the officer and you depends on the officer knowing and approving exactly what you intend to do at any time - no surprises!
Of course, the bodycam video should be released. The chief is clearly being a blockhead here. But a rolling stop was a good reason for the stop, and the reaction to the mention of a knife and the driver's move to get the knife was entirely reasonable.
DNA evidence ... NOT
This kind of comparison evidence has always been questionable, although seldom actually questioned in court.
Re: Re: Tautology yes, but not quite the same as your examples ...
Perhaps I'm proving Gwiz's point. :)
Re: Re: A fundemental misunderstaning of the subject.
Note that I'm really talking about absolute mathematical or physical impossibility, as in faster-than-light travel, as opposed to really, really hard or even the strong suspicion that it's impossible. Remember the famous words of Lord Kelvin: "Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible." ... it appears that this learned and experienced man was slightly in error.
Perhaps the issue is that we need a good operational definition of an unhackable system against which to test.
Tautology yes, but not quite the same as your examples ...
Does 0% REALLY mean none?
The site actually says "0%" were honored, which if they are rounding to the nearest integer using any of the common rounding algorithms could mean that one request was honored.
Just saying.
The current (non)privacy climate sure breeds suspicion and paranoia.
Einstein didn't publish a theory of relativity
This is important! For example, when Creationists say "evolution is only a theory" they are almost right ... evolution is a fact that is explained by the Theory of Evolution (i.e. natural selection), which has withstood more than a century of close scrutiny and provides the best explanation of observed phenomena. Similarly, gravity is a fact that is explained by the Theory of Gravity, etc.
I bring this up because scientists often assign a strict meaning to many words that most of us use quite loosely in daily conversation. We read of "legal theories" here, and watch detective shows where everyone has a "theory" about what happened. Scientific theories are a whole different critter, perhaps more akin to a "legal theory" that's made it all the way up to a unanimous validation by the Supreme Court.
From the "that-isn't-as-odd-as-you-think" dept.
This isn't odd at all. Note that the stamps are Egyptian (if, in fact, they are real stamps.) Postal services generally deliver mail from one country into their own country without charge. That is, the originating country sets the rate and collects the postage; the assumption is that mail is seldom one-way, and there will be a roughly equivalent volume of mail heading in the other direction.
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