http://www.twincities.com/

Troy Molde awoke at 3 a.m. Thursday to police flashlights shining in his face. Two uniformed Lakeville officers were in his bedroom, knocking on the wall to wake him up.They were there, they said, to warn him to keep his doors closed and locked.

Their surprise visit was part of a public service campaign. Officers had fanned out across the city, leaving notices on doors to remind residents how to prevent thefts by keeping garage doors closed, not leaving valuables in cars and locking windows or doors.

But at Molde’s house, they went further. His two sons, ages 5 and 7, and 5-year-old twin nephews were having a sleepover in the living room. They awoke to find the officers in the house.
“I was violated, but … I wasn’t physically damaged,” Molde said of what he considers an invasion of privacy.

The officers told Molde his garage door was open, the TV was on, keys to his truck were left in the ignition and the door to his house was ajar.

Police said the intrusion was justified because the officers’ initial door knocks went unanswered. Police went inside to check if anything was wrong, Sgt. Jim Puncochar said.
He said the kids were afraid to wake their dad, so the officers went upstairs.

“It really was suspicious,” Puncochar said. But Molde, 34, said he went upstairs to bed at midnight. Molde didn’t shut the garage door, and he remembers leaving the doors to his house closed — but unlocked.

The kids fell asleep watching TV. Three hours later, he had police in his bedroom. He immediately thought something was wrong. “I was just dazed,” said the 34-year-old dad.
“It’s not a safe way of (police) protection.”

An invasion of privacy? I’d say so. I’m curious as to if the door was left ajar in the first place, especially since the owner said he left the door to his house closed. I’m also interested if the police even knocked at all. My suggestion is that the town of Lakeview rethink this “program” before someone gets injured. Neighborhood inspections like this one have the capacity to escalate quickly and violently if a homeowner hears an intruder, feels threatened and grabs a weapon for protection–a baseball bat, a lead pipe, or a gun. I also fear that if this program continues, more doors may be left “ajar” as a means of excusing a warrantless search.

http://www.ft.com/…

“Something is seriously wrong when the American people are left to bear the consequences of reckless corporate conduct, while the offenders themselves are packed off with another $40m or $50m for the road,” he said. “If I am elected president, I intend to see that wrongdoing of this kind is called to account by federal prosecutors. And under my reforms, all aspects of a CEO’s pay, including any severance arrangements, must be approved by shareholders.”

Doesn’t that effectively happen now? If you are a shareholder you generally have voting rights in the way things are run. Even then if you don’t like what is occuring don’t become a shareholder. Seems pretty obvious to me that just like with any business… the investors are the ones in control in the end. Whether the investor is the customer buying the final product or the shareholders funding their creation. You don’t like what is being done… take you money elsewhere.

http://www.freep.com/…

The DJ was spinning old records by James Brown, Aretha Franklin and the Meters during Funk Night last weekend, when the heavily armed cops dressed in commando-style uniforms burst into the west-side Detroit art gallery.The cops yelled at the patrons to hit the floor. Witnesses said some officers used their feet to force down a couple of people who failed to move fast enough or asked too many questions.

Detroit police conduct raids frequently for all sorts of illegal activity, and the public never hears a thing. But cops almost never raid art galleries filled with young hipsters, students and at least one lawyer. So this May 30 raid, not unexpectedly, is turning out to have an afterlife: The gallery and patrons have decided to fight back, and the American Civil Liberties Union has become involved.

To the police, CAID was a blind pig, where people were buying beer after hours. They handed out 130 tickets for loitering in a place where alcohol was being sold illegally and impounded 44 cars, which cost $900 to get back.

Cops found no drugs, no weapons, no people with outstanding warrants.

Police spokesman James Tate said officers warned Timlin about violations during a visit several weeks ago. “We don’t often do that,” Tate said. “He was advised of the issues he needed to clarify.”

Timlin confirmed the visit, but said he believed he had made the necessary changes. He said the police told club officials May 30 that they also need a permit to allow dancing.

As a response to the raid, Timlin has launched a week-long arts festival that started at midnight Friday and will end with a concert Saturday.

Timlin is lining up bands, artists, lecturers, filmmakers and others to keep the CAID going 24 hours a day for 8 days.

Timlin said the 192-hour art festival this week will be alcohol-free, but in featuring dancing, he seems to be asking for more trouble.

“We’re standing up for what we believe in,” Timlin said. “We’d prefer that the police come and dance with us.”

But if they are found guilty by the courts will they refuse to pay the fines? Are they willing to go to jail for what they believe in? Will they fight to get their $900 back?

Next step full prohibition… because “we all pay for your unhealthiness.”

http://www.nytimes.com/…

Hoping to curb the increase in the number of young people who smoke small, inexpensive cigars, Baltimore plans to bar shops from the common practice of breaking open packages to sell them individually.

Baltimore would be the first city to impose such a regulation, said Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, the city’s health commissioner.

The city has put the proposal out for public comment until July 1 and expects to impose the ban, possibly with revisions, soon after, Dr. Sharfstein said. Under the city code, the commissioner has the power to regulate health hazards without legislation.

A ban on selling tobacco products to minors has had limited effect, Dr. Sharfstein said, and studies have shown that higher prices have a larger deterrent effect on youth smoking.

“This isn’t going to work but we’ll do it anyway.”

It’s frightening that the health commissioner has so much power.