Student sexually harassed inside Learning Center – 1/25/2010

An unknown male caused a disturbance in the Learning Center last Wednesday by committing a sexual act of indecent exposure in front of a student.

According to the police and a witness, David Bryars, the incident began when an older man was looking at a female student for an extended period of time on the south side of the first floor. The student was disturbed and she gathered her belongings and left. As she walked by the man, she noticed that the man was masturbating.

The student notified Bryars at the front desk, who then called the police at 7:10 p.m.

The man was seen a few times trying to find an alternate escape route on the second floor before slipping out through an emergency exit on the first floor.

“It was a discomfiting thing because of the utter lack of regard for everyone involved,” said Bryars.

Foothill-De Anza Campus Police Officer Jeff Meade and Officer J.R. Dorcak responded to the incident at 7:12 p.m. The officers searched the area but were unable to locate the suspect.

As a standard practice for all victims for sex crimes, the student was offered a referral by the officers to see a counselor.

The suspect has been described as a white male in his fifties who is about six feet, 200 lbs. with short gray hair and balding on top. He was last seen wearing a light blue short sleeve shirt and light blue denim pants. It’s unknown if he is a student or has been caught doing similar acts before.

“Our officers are actively investigating this case and pursuing several leads. We hope to identify a suspect based on witness descriptions and statements,” said Ron Levine, Chief of the Foothill-De Anza Campus Police.

The investigation is ongoing, but despite the nature of the crime, such incidents rarely happen on campus. According to police data, on average, an act of indecent exposure happens between once to twice a year in a five-year period.

Published for La Voz Weekly
1/25/2010
Original Link: Student sexually harassed inside Learning Center

As the World Burns: Why Gitmo Must Go – 1/25/2010

Well, it’s January 2010 and President Barack Obama has only seven days to meet his promise of closing the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, putting an end to a dark, embarrassing chapter in the nation’s history. While we wait, try to pass the time by enjoying the new season of “24.”

However, there is great doubt that the detention center will close by the end of the month because of the Christmas bomber, along with the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan and Al-Qaeda gaining influence in Yemen.

At the same time, most Americans aren’t that comfortable with closing Gitmo so soon because it would release suspected terrorists back to their homeland and out in the world. It’s even scarier when one in five Americans support the use of torture against suspected terrorists (based on a May, 2009 CNN survey).

Despite how effective and justifiable torture has appeared on “24,” the use of it in the real world is not effective and it violates ethical values that this nation holds to high regard.

Torture only works in “24” because Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) and the audience know for a fact that the person he is torturing is a terrorist.

In the real war on terror, knowing who is a threat is not that easy. The intelligence that the CIA and the military obtains by a variety of paid informants could be false. With a crumbling economy in Afghanistan and Iraq, anyone will say anything to support their families.

Hence, chances are an innocent person could get captured and tortured until they say what the interrogator wants to know. It’s a lot like a game of pink belly, only replace saying something falsely embarrassing to false information and getting slapped in the stomach with 50,000 volts of electricity.

When someone is enduring such horrendous pain, they will say anything just to end the ordeal. Chances are the so-called “secret weapons factory” the suspect then points out could be a medical clinic or school.

In the end both the victim and the integrator are left with memories that will be haunting them for life.

The alternative to torture is to actually investigate a terrorist bunker by using proper detective skills and crime scene investigative techniques (like on “CSI”). It’s more effective in locating suspected terrorists and breaking up Al-Qaeda (or any other groups like it).

But if tormenting an innocent person until they admit to a lie is their method, then don’t expect democracy to prevail over terrorism. So long as Gitmo is in business, then just enjoy the torture porn as the world burns.

Written for La Voz Weekly
1/25/2010
Original Article: As the World Burns: Why Gitmo Must Go

As the World Burns: Total Security Abomination – 1/20/2010

National Security met a major blow when a terrorist was able to board Northwest Airlines Flight 253 and almost ruin Christmas for many families. Passengers prevented a holiday of terror from taking place.

Now the Obama Administration is wondering how terrorist Umar Farouk Adbulmutablla (whose actions had been reported for years by American Intelligence, British Intelligence and Adbulmutablla’s father) was able to board an American airliner with a bomb.

The reality is not so shocking if one just examines how effective the Transportation Security Administration, along with the “No-Fly List,” has been after 9/11.

It was not too long ago that the TSA posted its manual online, allowing anyone to examine how the TSA operates. This is also the same agency with operatives that have frisked babies, sexually humiliated and harassed passengers (like Mandi Hamlin in Lubbock, Texas), failed to detect fake bombs in random tests, been caught sleeping on the job and have been responsible for various luggage theft.

Basically, the TSA is nothing more than a government funded mall cop service with operatives who have the apathy of the Department of Motor Vehicles. So its no surprise that Adbulmutablla was able to get pass their “heightened vigilance.”

The only proper solution would be to reorganize and retrain TSA into a real law enforcement unit. This would mean that for someone to become a TSA operative they would need the same requirements as becoming a police officer and receive the same training along with additional skills for them to do their job properly.

Or, just abolish the TSA and hand over the responsibility of airline security to local law enforcement and the National Guard. They have the proper training, years of experience and the mature attitude of not giggling when some one is being frisked.

Next is the effectiveness of the “No-Fly List.” In theory it’s suppose to ban anyone from flying on a commercial airline that is singled out as a threat. As an example of those that had been listed on the “No Fly List” during the Bush Administration were the late Ted Kennedy, folk singer Cat Stevens, an American soldier, several air marshals, and numerous children under the age of 5.

Obviously, airline security hasn’t changed much since 9/11 with the exception of a list used to harass the administrations’ political enemies. America was lucky once, but what’s stopping another terrorist from smuggling a bomb past a mall cop who is too busy giggling at a porn magazine?

If this is how airport security will continue to function, then buckle up for the ride and watch the world burn.

Published for La Voz Weekly
1/20/2010
Original Link: As the World Burns: Total Security Abomination