Archive for March, 2007
Tuesday, March 6th, 2007
On the anniversary of the Rodney King beating video, France has banned citizens or unregistered journalists from posting video on the Internet. The penalty for violating the statute is up to five years in prison and a $100,000 fine.
Some have argued that the law is in response to the nightly burning of French automobiles […]
Posted in Open Records, Government Corruption, Terrorism | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 6th, 2007
The “London Times” lists many government secrets revealed by The Freedom of Information Act.
However no specifics are given. For example, how many British subjects would like to know which foreign diplomats have been accused of rape, child abuse, or murder but were not charged due to diplomatic immunity or which police officers also have […]
Posted in Open Records, Government Corruption, Crime, Health & Medical | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 6th, 2007
Reported rapes have increased in Australia according to a secret government report.
Several questions for Australian taxpayers include, “Who benefits from the secrecy? Are more rapists likely to be caught due to secrecy? Are citizens more likely to be watchful due to secrecy? Are taxpayers more likely to be trusting of […]
Posted in Open Records, Government Corruption, Crime, Sex Offenders | No Comments »
Tuesday, March 6th, 2007
Police have warned householders to watch out for three convicted burglars, but cannot issue descriptions of the men for fear of breaching their human rights.
In Britain private handgun ownership is banned. Knives suitable for defense are banned. A robber is more likely to sue the victim and win damages that go to jail […]
Posted in Government Corruption, Crime, Personal Behavior | No Comments »
Monday, March 5th, 2007
A super-TB carrier may be jailed in a hospital ward until he dies. Does society have the right to protect itself from health risks?
What are the implications for those infected with HIV/AIDS? At what point does an individual’s right to privacy and freedom intersect with other individuals’ right to life?
Should infected individuals who […]
Posted in Personal Behavior, Health & Medical | No Comments »
Monday, March 5th, 2007
The most important element of the “Hillary’s Thesis” story is not that the 21 year old future first lady wrote a paper about an infamous socialist, but that the Office of the President suppressed it’s publication.
President George Bush’s DWI records and John Kerry’s military records may help citizens form an opinion on the suitability of […]
Posted in Government Corruption, Personal Behavior | No Comments »
Monday, March 5th, 2007
This story affects both the effectiveness of anti-terrorism efforts and government financial impropriety. The Open Records Project has always argued that financial transparency of organizations tends to encourage effectiveness and discourage corruption.
We published every check written by the Dallas Independent School District in 1998. The publication coincided with the firing of […]
Posted in Government Corruption, Terrorism | No Comments »
Monday, March 5th, 2007
This sort of story keeps coming back. How much privacy does an infected individual have versus the right of uninfected individuals not to die?
One side argued that infected individuals have a right not to be embarrassed are socially censured. When we discussed the topic on Dallas Examiner Live, several infected individuals appeared to […]
Posted in Personal Behavior, Health & Medical | No Comments »
Monday, March 5th, 2007
When we first posted the Sex Offender Registry, thousands of people emailed us to say the addresses of offenders were incorrect. This problem still may not be corrected.
A possible solution is having individual citizens observe the posted addresses to confirm whether offenders are actually present. If so, report a successful sighting. […]
Posted in Open Records, Sex Offenders, Self Organizing Citizens | No Comments »
Monday, March 5th, 2007
According to this story, some police departments are posting crime scene videos online in the hope that citizens may identify the perpetrators. It would seem that private individuals could make similar postings. This is also similar to the attempt to publish video of border crossing areas.
The countervailing view is that publishing video somehow […]
Posted in Crime, Personal Behavior, Self Organizing Citizens | No Comments »