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BAGHDAD — A lack of traditional power sources to run equipment poses a significant challenge here, particularly for remote Border Security Checkpoints unable to connect to the national power grid. The engineering arm of Multi-National Security Transition Command – Iraq (MNSTC-I), in partnership with the Army Corps of Engineers, has found a possible solution through alternative energy systems. The command’s engineering team has designed a unique system that leverages solar panels along with a large wind turbine. Engineers designed a rugged system they refer to as "energy in a box" for a checkpoint southeast of the Iraqi capital, connecting the...

Update: In a note to me, Pete Eyre clarifies that he faces no firearms charges, but was threatened with a federal charge and with federal intervention in the case by the ATF: Firearm charge was never made. I was threatened with it at the scene of the stop and while at the jail but was never charged with that or any firearm charge. It was the stick they tried to use to get me to tell them more info. And it was the thing ("ATF hold") they claimed to deny us access to a phone for 7hrs. And on a...

I live in a small town in Southern Maine. Last week I encountered the local police in the process of setting up a roadblock/checkppoint on one of the more heavily-travelled county roads. It was mid-afternoon - not your usual midnight sobriety checkpoint. Apparently the reason for the checkpoint was to screen motorists/vehicles/drivers/passengers for any and all possible violations. My son later drove past the checkpoint from the other direction and saw one of his friends standing outside his vehicle while police searched it. Unknown whether that was a "probable cause" or "consent" search. Several days before that I went to...

I live in a small town in Southern Maine. Last week I encountered the local police in the process of setting up a roadblock/checkppoint on one of the more heavily-travelled county roads. It was mid-afternoon - not your usual midnight sobriety checkpoint. Apparently the reason for the checkpoint was to screen motorists/vehicles/drivers/passengers for any and all possible violations. My son later drove past the checkpoint from the other direction and saw one of his friends standing outside his vehicle while police searched it. Unknown whether that was a "probable cause" or "consent" search. Several days before that I went to...

ESCONDIDO — The American Civil Liberties Union yesterday demanded that the city of Escondido change the way it conducts driver's license checkpoints, which critics say are intended to apprehend and deport illegal immigrants and are resulting in suspicion and resentment among many Latinos. At a news conference yesterday in San Diego with El Grupo – a coalition of Latino and advocacy organizations – the ACLU said the city needs to be more transparent. Escondido has checkpoints about twice a month, for two hours, on a busy road. Drivers who fail to produce licenses or have revoked or suspended licenses are...

ESCONDIDO – The American Civil Liberties Union on Tuesday demanded that the city of Escondido change the way it conducts driver's license checkpoints, which critics say are intended to apprehend and deport illegal immigrants and are resulting in suspicion and resentment among many Latinos. At a news conference in San Diego with El Grupo – a coalition of Latino and advocacy organizations – the ACLU said the city needs to be more transparent. Escondido has checkpoints about twice a month, for two hours, on a busy road. Drivers who fail to produce licenses or have revoked or suspended licenses are...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Drunken drivers beware: If you drink and drive, especially during the last weekend of February, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office and other area law enforcement will be out for blood. PBSO deputies plan to set up driving under the influence checkpoints. If they suspect a driver is under the influence, they'll offer an on-the-spot Breathalyzer. If drivers refuse, deputies will ask to draw blood from their arms.

Some lawmakers say stops would unfairly target illegal immigrants The state agency that imposed new rules barring illegal immigrants from obtaining driver's licenses is requesting authority to set up statewide driver's license checkpoints, part of what several lawmakers suspect is a plan to crack down on illegal immigrants. A number of state legislators argue the Department of Public Safety Commission overstepped its authority Aug. 25 by issuing new rules requiring applicants to prove they are here legally before they can obtain or renew a Texas driver's license. Their suspicions deepened when, two weeks later, the commission's chairman asked Texas Attorney...

'Baghdad-style' checkpoints in US capital By Tom Leonard Last Updated: 8:14PM BST 08/06/2008 Police in Washington DC have set up vehicle checkpoints in the American capital in a controversial measure aimed at tackling a wave of gun violence. In a move that critics have compared to the security clampdown in Baghdad, police are stopping motorists travelling through the main thoroughfare of Trinidad, a neighbourhood near the National Arboretum in the city's northeast section. Drivers' identification are checked and those who didn't have a "legitimate purpose" in the area, such as a church visit or doctor's appointment, are turned away. The...

(IsraelNN.com) The IDF, on orders from the Olmert government, removed 10 manned checkpoints in the Binyamin region and Samaria Thursday evening. The roadblocks were taken down near Ramallah, Shechem, Tal Karem and Kalkilya. Officials explained that the roadblocks were removed as part of a series of “goodwill gestures” to the Palestinian Authority. Ostensibly under US pressure, Israel recently agreed to remove dozens of checkpoints and roadblocks in Judea and Samaria in order to make travel easier for local Arabs. In return, the PA said it would try to stop terrorism. Daily attacks continue on roads in Judea and Samaria –...

When the U.N. - hijacked by the racist Arab Muslim 'Islamic apartheid' lobby - enables genocide against Israel UN expert calls Palestinian terrorism 'inevitable consequence' of 'Israeli Occupation' International Herald Tribune, France - Feb 26, 2008 He cited checkpoints and roadblocks... http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/02/26/news/UN-GEN-UN-Israel.php What do you do when the United Nations "official report" sounds like a Pallywood cheap low life blogger? When it hands out, gives the anti Jewish Arab "Palestinian" Jihad, pushing for annihilation, finally to hear that exact same garbage with which they try us all to brainwash with: Namely: "WE ARE ALL VICTIMS SO WE CAN COMMIT...

QAHIRA, Iraq, Feb. 20, 2008 – Citizens in the northern Baghdad neighborhood of Qahira play a large role in securing their backyard through local checkpoints. Army Lt. Col Michael Pemrick, deputy commander of the 4th Infantry Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team in Multinational Division Baghdad, greets Sons of Iraq members at a neighborhood checkpoint while on a patrol in Baghdad’s Qahira neighborhood, Feb. 14, 2008. Pemrick talked to the group members about their security operations in the area. Photo by Pfc. April Campbell, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Army Lt. Col. Michael Pemrick, deputy commander of the...

Terror groups take advantage of Israeli permit allowing humanitarian goods into impoverished Gaza Strip, attempt to smuggle two tons of fertilizer in truck transporting aid in second such incident this week Hanan Greenberg Published: 01.14.08, 19:01 / Israel News Security workers employed by the Israel Airport Authority uncovered two tons of fertilizer used in the manufacturing of Qassam rockets on Monday afternoon, the substantial amount of explosive material was concealed in a truck allegedly transporting humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip. The security officials manning the Kerem Shalom border crossing discovered the smuggling attempt during a random inspection of vehicles...

Motorists in Colorado are expressing outrage over a weekend stunt in Gilpin County, about an hour's drive west of Denver, where highway checkpoints were set up so a private organization could ask for samples of blood and saliva. "I don't think they're authorized to do what they're doing, and I view it as a gross violation of law-enforcement protocol," Roberto Sequeira, 51, told reporters for the Denver Post. He said he and his wife were "detained" for about 15 minutes even after they protested they wanted to get home because of a sleepy child in their car. (Story continues below)...

Students at San Jose University disguise as soldiers, Palestinians at improvised checkpoint to condemn Israeli army's occupation of West Bank Eyal Marcus Published: 05.25.07, 07:13 / Israel News On Israel's Independence Day this year, Max Grossman, an Art and Design lecturer at the University of San Jose in California, fell upon a giant wall built on campus by a student organization called Students for Change. The wall was meant to symbolize Israel's security fence in the West Bank. Students set up a checkpoint near the wall where fifty students posed as either Kaffiyeh-clad Palestinians or armed Israeli soldiers. "I was...

KIRKUK, Iraq, April 6, 2007 — U.S. soldiers with Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 3rd Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment, with the assistance of G Company, 3-7 FA soldiers, have delivered several concrete barriers to traffic checkpoints in the Khabbaz region near Kirkuk. "The barriers will make the drivers reduce their speeds through here, as well as provide extra protection for the soldiers from any attacks," Capt. Qais Aswad Bunyan The barriers were set up at three Iraqi army’s 1st Strategic Infrastructure Battalion checkpoints to improve security for Iraqi soldiers manning their posts. The 1st Strategic Infrastructure Battalion received the barriers...

Humiliation and Collective Punishment in Israel With a title like the one I chose, I will probably get "googled" along with a deluge of anti-Israeli hate articles. Sorry (in advance) to disappoint you.... In the latest issue of TIME Magazine the article, "No Room for Civility at the Checkpoint", "journalist" Jamil Hamad, bends the truth, and in doing so, keeps the fire of anti-Israelism going. TIME doesn't have anyone around to tell the full story, and, the way it looks, even if they had, they wouldn't tell it. To be FAIR, I will allow Jamil begin first (the link...

Video: Freedom Journal Iraq 591 This edition features stories on progress in the Haifa street area of Baghdad, Iraqi police and citizens setting up checkpoints to keep out terrorists and Iraqi police conducting Operation Police Victory to clear a town of terrorists. Hosted by Spc. John Sheldon.

Palestinian teen caught at West Bank checkpoint with two explosive devices weighing 1.5 kilos each Efrat Weiss Published: 02.10.07, 12:37 / Israel News Two explosive devices weighing 1.5 kilos each (about 3.3 pounds) were found by IDF soldiers Saturday during a routine search of a Palestinian teen’s belongings at the Hawara checkpoint, south of Nablus in the West Bank. Border Guard sappers dispatched to the scene conducted a controlled-detonation of the devices, and the 16-year-old Palestinian was taken in for interrogation by Israeli security forces. It remains unclear whether the teen was supposed to transfer the devices to someone else...

Checkpoints to Combat New Orleans Crime Wednesday January 10, 2007 4:01 AM By MARY FOSTER Associated Press Writer NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Police plan to set up checkpoints beginning Wednesday to help curb a crime wave that has claimed nine lives since the start of 2007, Mayor Ray Nagin said, stopping short of imposing a curfew on this tourism-dependent city. The checkpoints will operate between 2 a.m. and 6 p.m., when about a third of the city's violent crime occurs, and will target drug and alcohol violations as well as motorist insurance. The first one was to be held in...