Philly Police Search for Things That Would Warrant a Search Warrant

When is a search warrant not needed? When you’re looking to drum up charges that would warrant a  search warrant, of course. Or so goes the thinking of Capt. Dennis Wilson of the 9th District.

“They’re a hate group. We’re trying to drum up charges against them, but unfortunately we’ll probably have to let them go.”

The ‘terror group’ in question in question were 4 North Philadelphia residents who had circulated a petition questioning police surveillance cameras.

Vanore said that when Moffat and others declined to identify themselves and cooperate, police entered the property because “they had probable cause to believe there was trespassing or even burglarizing.”

Once inside, Vanore said, police saw things that prompted them to obtain a search warrant, such as protest literature, anti-police graffiti on walls…

How dare a citizen express outrage against overreaching police and then write about it? No charges were filed but the house was duly trashed beyond livability. That’ll teach those pesky Bill of Rights loonies a thing or two, huh? The rest of the article is in The Inky.

Government Schools Flummoxed By Human Action In Chester

Given a choice of whether to send their kids to one of the most dangerous government school systems or to a charter school.

WHEN THE morning bells ring in the Chester-Upland School District, more students in kindergarten through eighth grade are sitting in charter-school classrooms than in all other district schools combined, according to district Superintendent Gregory Thornton.

State Sen. Dominic Pileggi, a charter-school proponent who represents Delaware and Chester counties, says, “It should be a wake-up call to school administrators that when parents are allowed choice, they’re choosing another education provider over what the district is providing.”

Gee, what a surprise. It’s nice to see self-managed (although taxpayer-funded) schools given a chance to succees. However, don’t look for this success to continue on for long. Instead of distancing itself from the leviathan that is the Chester-Upland School District, forces are hard at work to coerce them into conformity.

Annette Anderson, principal of the charter school, said that it’s important for her charter and the district to support one another because the school serves students in kindergarten through second grade only. The charter plans to add 50 more students a year in each grade until it maxes out at fifth grade in 2011. After that, students will head into regular district schools.

“We have a vested interest in the success of the Chester-Upland School District,” she said. “That’s why it’s not a good thing for us to be considered separate. We have to come together.”

So how to save the failing government schools? Teach courses in government beuracracy, of course!

Thornton also wants to divide the district’s high school into three, use the city’s soccer stadium and Harrah’s Chester Casino & Racetrack as learning laboratories and start a class on Chester’s history.

US Government Dancing Around Oil Price’s Real Problem

On one hand, the president says that we just need to go out and find cheaper oil. On the other, the free market needs to be inhibited. Meanwhile, no one is addressing the elephant in the room.