SandBox Comments: UK Telegraph "Criminals and cyber bullies to be banned from the web"

Just one more thing above and beyond the United States that law enforcement and justice get right over in the UK: 

"It calls for police and courts to make more use of existing “cyber sanctions” to restrict access to the social networks and instant messaging services in cases of hacking, fraud and online bullying. Sex offenders and those convicted of harrassment or anti-social behaviour also face more internet restrictions under the new strategy.

Similar orders have been imposed on those charged with involvement in a series of cyber attacks by the Anonymous and LulzSec groups earlier this year, while they await trial.

Cyber sanctions were also used following the riots this summer. Two teenagers in Dundee were banned from the web for inciting riots via Facebook.

Officials are now looking into whether "cyber tag" technology could be used to monitor offenders and report to authorities if break their bail or sentence conditions by using the internet.

"The Ministry of Justice and the Home Office will consider and scope the development of a new way of enforcing these orders, using ‘cyber-tags’ which are triggered by the offender breaching the conditions that have been put on their internet use, and which will automatically inform the police or probation service," cyber security strategy said...."
(Emma Barnett)

(Read more on how they're going to accomplish this without harm to free speech?  Click title.) 

SandBox Comments: Washington Post " What to say to ‘Thank you for your service’"

"Emerging into the sunlight, I’m leaving for work in Winchester, Va., in my Army combat uniform.

Coffee sloshes from my cup onto my bag; my patrol cap is in my hand, not on my head as it should be.

I’m a wreck. A woman I don’t know, a bit older than me, smiles. She looks as if she’s about to say, “Thank you for your service,” to which I’m never sure how to respond.

Six months ago I was in Baghdad, serving as operations chief of the Gulf Region District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Our unit oversees infrastructure rebuilding — a beautiful and expensive endeavor managing construction of schools, roads, hospitals and other big-ticket items. I was someone else six months ago, in charge of force protection, intelligence, security and combat movement across Iraq.

Then my older son, Nicholas, a charismatic and passionate 21-year-old in his third year of college, shot himself during my last week in theater.

Our unit suffered five fatalities during our year in Iraq. One individual was killed by a sniper’s single shot to the head. One person, also named Nicholas, was lost to a vehicle-borne suicide bomb. During my tenure, I learned how to receive such calls and to inform our commander. I had to be direct and calm and succinctly present the information he needed. Remaining professional during these events was difficult, especially because I was out of practice...."
(Jodi Jones Smith)

(Read more?  Click title.  Comment to discuss)

"Truth goes through three stages. First it is ridiculed. Then it is violently opposed. Finally, it is accepted as self-evident."

SandBox Comments: Craig Daily Press "Army Ranger and MCHS grad back in Craig for holiday"

"Picture the wounded soldier returning to the place of his youth.

The familiar landmarks — schools, parks, streets — are dusted with snow. Thanksgiving is coming, and holiday lights twinkle in the storefronts.

Maybe he thinks of boyhood games he played here. Maybe he thinks of friends left behind.

He spends the holiday with family, who rejoice that their son, nephew and grandson has come home alive.

These images could easily belong to the realm of Hollywood and black-and-white celluloid film.

But for Casey Greene — a 2007 Moffat County High School graduate and recuperating U.S. Army Ranger specialist — this isn’t fantasy.

This homecoming is real...."
(Bridget Manley)

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SandBox Comments: Grand Junction Daily Sentinel "Gessler proposing campaign finance changes"

Again, thank you to Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler for continuing to keep his word on his campaign promises.

Coloradans want election, campaign and voter reform in Colorado.  For far too long, cronyism has played a significant role in our election processes.

Thank you for staying the course.  Keep up the great work.

(Learn more?  Click title.  Comment to discuss)

"Truth goes through three stages. First it is ridiculed. Then it is violently opposed. Finally, it is accepted as self-evident."

SandBox Comments: Aspen Times/Maurice Emmer and Harvie Branscomb "Why insist on secrecy but dismiss anonymity?"

"We both write repeatedly about the importance of election transparency. We present facts. We don't make things up. Stories about revealing ballot “secrets” often sound like scary tales told to children. They are designed to frighten, not inform. Jack Johnson's scary story recently published in another paper might trigger your instinct to fight, but that's what fiction and political propaganda are intended to do.

Johnson's column, and recent announcements by the city of Aspen, misconstrue election and open-records law as well as misrepresent the Marks v. Koch case and the Court of Appeals' unanimous opinion in favor of ballot transparency. As untrue assertions have become Aspen's norm, here we try to separate fact from fiction...."
(Maurice Emmer and Harvie Branscomb)

(Read the rest?  Click title.  Comment to discuss)

"Truth goes through three stages. First it is ridiculed. Then it is violently opposed. Finally, it is accepted as self-evident."