Michael Lockyear Blog - WTF

Spying in plane sight

mikeblogs@michaellockyear.com (Michael Lockyear) — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 17:22:00 GMT

From the "What-do-you-expect-from-lowest-bidder" Department: The US military use Predator drones to spy on people. What they did not expect is that someone would spy on their drones. In December 2009, it was reported that Iraqi militants were using software costing less than 30 Euros to monitor video feeds from passing drones. Rather amazingly the Predator spy drone transmits video footage without encryption, which allows anyone with a satellite dish and Skygrabber software to download Predator video streams.

Involuntary manslaughter for BART's policeman

mikeblogs@michaellockyear.com (Michael Lockyear) — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 14:11:00 GMT

From the "Oh-I-thought-it-was-a-Tazer" Department (of the Bay Area Transit Police), LA: The police officer who drew his gun and then fatally shot an unarmed 22 year-old lying face-down at an Oakland (LA, USA) train platform, has been convicted of involuntary manslaughter. This killing has achieved notoriety as it took place in front of a train full of witnesses, many of whom recorded the killing. A number of the recordings have found their way onto the internet. According to the attorney general, "We believe Johannes Mehserle was guilty of the crime of murder. We presented the case that way, we presented the evidence that way, and the jury found otherwise."

Australian officials paid to search for porn

mikeblogs@michaellockyear.com (Michael Lockyear) — Thu, 20 May 2010 19:22:00 GMT

From the "We-want-your-porn" Department (an official branch of the Australian government): Australian customs are asking all visitors to confirm whether or not they have pornography in there possession. In addition they have indicated that they are entitled to search laptops and phones in their quest for pornography. If they are that keen on looking for pictures of naked people someone should tell them about the ummmm... internet!

Minced penguin please

mikeblogs@michaellockyear.com (Michael Lockyear) — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 18:12:00 GMT

From the "We should have hired a proof-reader" Department: The BBC report that the Penguin Group in Australia had to destroy and reprint 7,000 copies of the Pasta Bible after one recipe called for "salt and freshly ground black people" instead of black pepper.

V for VERY stupid

mikeblogs@michaellockyear.com (Michael Lockyear) — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 18:46:00 GMT

From the "Too-dirty-for-our-ears" Department: The Guardian reports that the major US TV networks rejected a Kotex tampon advertising campaign that dared use the "V" word. Even references to "down there" were considered to be too disturbing for prudish American TV-viewers. Maybe the networks would have been happier if the campaign used Southpark-style, potty-mouth slang (and the word we dare not mention).

Kiddie-fiddling priests not pedophiles

mikeblogs@michaellockyear.com (Michael Lockyear) — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 18:17:00 GMT

From the "It-was-so-much-easier-during-the-Inquisition" Department: Bill Donohue (head of the Catholic League) made a gob-smacking statement, on Larry King Live (30 March 2010), while defending the Catholic Church on allegations of sexual abuse by priests and cover-up by the Vatican: "The vast majority of the victims are post-pubescent. That is not pedophilia, buddy. That is homosexuality." According to Donohue, the age at which boys become "post-pubescent" is around 12 or 13. What does this mean? Does the Church want us to believe that a priest raping a 12 year-old boy is not the same as a priest raping a 10 year-old boy? Surely not.

Condoms for kids

mikeblogs@michaellockyear.com (Michael Lockyear) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:45:00 GMT

Underage pregnancy is a huge problem in many parts of the world, made worse by deadly STD's and backwards beliefs. A Swiss company, Lamprecht AG has developed a possible solution: extra-small condoms for 12-14yo boys. The condom, named the "Hotshot" is supported by a number of Swiss family planning groups and government, who found that young boys were more likely to participate in unprotected sex.

Ethics redefined

mikeblogs@michaellockyear.com (Michael Lockyear) — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 14:06:00 GMT

The so-called "ethics committee" of the US House of Congress recently ruled that it was okay for elected officials to earmark hundreds of millions of dollars in no-bid contracts for contractors who also just happened to make large campaign contributions to said politicians.

Justice for all

mikeblogs@michaellockyear.com (Michael Lockyear) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 13:21:00 GMT

Judges without legal training, no oversight , and sometimes no court records sending people to jail for up to two years and holding people without trial for months...some third-world banana republic? Not quite. It would seem that kangaroo courts are not unusual in New York State. In the words of one, not so learned, judge, “And the hell with the law.”

Go big big or go home

mikeblogs@michaellockyear.com (Michael Lockyear) — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 18:07:00 GMT

The professional porn watchers at the Australian Censor Board have decided that women with small boobs should not be allowed in porn productions.

Onwards Christian mixed martial artists

mikeblogs@michaellockyear.com (Michael Lockyear) — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 17:08:00 GMT

The New York Times reports that American churches are turning to violent sport to attract converts...apparently the "marriage of faith and fighting is intended to promote Christian values."

'Oral sex' definition prompts dictionary ban in US schools

mikeblogs@michaellockyear.com (Michael Lockyear) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:52:00 GMT

The Guardian reports that schools in Southern California have banned the dictionary because it contains words parents do not like. Here is a word that you will find in any dictionary, "Stupid"!

SA GDP now includes organised crime

mikeblogs@michaellockyear.com (Michael Lockyear) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:32:00 GMT

South Africa has changed the way it measures its GDP to include the "non-observed economy". This includes drugs and prostitution. Iafrica reports that "Cannabis farming will now form part of the agricultural sector while prostitution falls within the personal services sector ", some analysts have said that the estimates were probably too low! Welcome to South Africa!

In lawless Liberia even the laws are held hostage

mikeblogs@michaellockyear.com (Michael Lockyear) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:09:00 GMT

Liberia is literally lawless as the government no longer has a complete record of its laws! But all is not lost...the one-time Minister of Justice has compiled a set and has offered to make them available to the government...for a "small fee"....welcome to Africa

Detention without trial in downtown Manhattan

mikeblogs@michaellockyear.com (Michael Lockyear) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:18:00 GMT

Detained without trial...put to work at a dollar day to pay for food...no access to legal counsel....Soviet Gulag? No...the fourth floor of a US federal office building in Greenwich Village, New York.

Rocks in the head...

mikeblogs@michaellockyear.com (Michael Lockyear) — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:41:00 GMT

Rocky Mountain Bank sends banking info to the wrong email address and then gets a judge to deactivate the email account. Google stepped up to the plate to protect it's unknown user's right to a Gmail account, but lost. Scary to think that your email account could be shut-down because some idiot accidentally sends you something you are not supposed to see.

Australians not to be trusted with computers

mikeblogs@michaellockyear.com (Michael Lockyear) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 08:41:00 GMT

Australia’s "leading" criminologist, Russel Smith believes that people should get a license before using computers....I have a better idea Russel: lets ban stupid people!

American judges think its lawful to execute the innocent.

mikeblogs@michaellockyear.com (Michael Lockyear) — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 13:45:00 GMT

In this case (Davis case) Justice Scalia said that even if the district court were to find Davis to be innocent, there would still be nothing unlawful about executing him.

French regulators think power-monitoring business should PAY for energy it saves

mikeblogs@michaellockyear.com (Michael Lockyear) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 07:55:00 GMT

"Two weeks ago, the French Energy Regulatory Commission, the C.R.E., decided that Voltalis, a company that installs electricity management devices in homes and businesses and then manages their use, would have to, in effect, pay power producers for the power that it saves." - NYTimes.com

Raving lunatics...

mikeblogs@michaellockyear.com (Michael Lockyear) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 14:04:00 GMT

Nothing says a country is over-policed like...British riot police (4 police cars, a riot van and a helicopter) raiding a private birthday party of 15 people at 4pm because the Facebook invites showed it as an all-night party.

Where's Walker?

mikeblogs@michaellockyear.com (Michael Lockyear) — Thu, 07 May 2009 06:19:00 GMT

Highway robbery (seriously...robbing passing truckers)... threats of kidnap...Somalian pirates?...No...Texas cops. (who tf is Walker? The Texas Ranger! a.k.a Chuck Norris!)

Without a clue in London

mikeblogs@michaellockyear.com (Michael Lockyear) — Wed, 06 May 2009 11:25:00 GMT

The BBC report that the Metropolitan Police made more than 170 000 "terror" stops in London in 2008. This is more than double the previous year. The Police spokesman said, "The threat to London from terrorism is real and serious and these powers are a vital tactic in our counter-terrorism strategy." mmmm...only 65 of the "terror" stops lead to arrests for terror offenses...the conviction rate is not given, although it is probably quite low. (remember, taking a photograph of a policeman may constitute a "terror offense") You don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to deduce that the risk of terrorism in the UK is very low, and the police and politicians are fear-mongering (remember the fictitious Iraqi weapons of mass destruction and "sexed-up" report of their existence).

Free satellite communication...thanks Uncle Sam

mikeblogs@michaellockyear.com (Michael Lockyear) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:06:00 GMT

This is unbelievable! If you have the right equipment you can use the US government military satellite network (for free).

Dutch free Yemeni captives from pirates...then free the pirates

mikeblogs@michaellockyear.com (Michael Lockyear) — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 17:22:00 GMT

Dutch commandos recently freed a group of fishermen who had been taken hostage by Somali pirates...and then released the pirates as well...as NATO does not have a "detainment policy". What happened to "walking the plank"?