Florida Taser-Like Stun Gun Maker Faces Federal Charges in High-Powered Taser Shoot-Out

A competitor to the now-notorious Taser Brand of electrical stun gun now faces a federal lawsuit for what the Security and Exchange Commission is calling "misrepresentation" that led to inflated stock prices on the NASDAQ exchange. It's not the first go-round in court for Stinger Systems of Tampa, Fl, either.

In 2004 their competitor TASER® International, Inc. (NASDAQ: TASR), filed a lawsuit United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina against Stinger Systems, Inc. . TASR 's press released alleged that "Stinger Systems has engaged in a pattern of false advertising and unlawful patent marking in violation of federal law."

Stinger, however, hasn't been shy about their competing claims. Among them:

"Stinger Systems is dedicated to offering the world's most state of the art stun technologies. Stinger's flagship product, the S-200 electronic immobilization device, is revolutionizing the industry bringing an all new stun wave form to the market. Packed with great take down power, the S-200's technology still allows for less current per pulse to enter the body than its competitors. In addition to incredible wave form circuitry, the S-200 is packed with revolutionary features like a cartridge eject system, off the shelf batteries, and a covered recessed cartridge.

Stinger Systems believes that its competition does not want to compete by comparing features on a head-to-head basis, as is evidenced by its competitor using old studies comparing its weapon to a previous model S-200 that is no longer in production. Fear of competition based on a product's merits should assist the law enforcement community to easily decide which company has a superior EID and technology."







But will those subdued by stun guns care which brand is used?

NYPD: Cops Indicted in "Scare" Tactics Against Teen

Thousands Mourn LA SWAT Officer Gunned Down By Family Killer

LA Standoff: SWAT Officer Killed, 2nd Wounded; Barricaded Suspect Said He Killed His Family

Georgia: Two Police Officers Ambushed, Gunned Down

COPS: How a Writer's Strike Helped Launch 20 Years of "Bad Boys"

As the current writer's strike drags on, time to take a look back to the birth of the reality TV show Cops. Creator/producer John Langley spent seven long, hard years trying to sell his concept, with no luck.

Then came the 1988 writer's strike, the rise of Fox News,a dearth of scripts, and the unscripted Cops was on the streets and into your home. With multiple Emmy nominations, Cops is the longest-running reality TV show in history.

Take a quick look at Cops history and highlights. Don't miss the guy with the pot cigarette tucked behind his ear telling cops that he doesn't smoke weed. Priceless!

Missing Woman Case: True Crimes, A Chicago Cop & The Media

The increasingly bizarre story of a cop's missing wife continues as Stacy Peterson's sister tells Greta Van Susteren that Stacy feared her husband would kill her. Meanwhile, police used cadaver dogs to search a pond near Chicago's Clow Airport and removed guns from Sgt. Drew Peterson's home.

Missing Woman Case: The True Crimes of Bad Journalism turned the spotlight on the disappearance of young Stacy Peterson, Stacy, who's now 23, is the 53-year-old Peterson's fourth wife. His third, Kathleen Savio, drowned in a mysterious bathtub accident after Peterson became involved with Stacy, who was then 17.

Fox News has stepped up to the plate, deploying Van Susteren to the scene. Her exclusive interview with Stacy's sister, Cassandra Cales, revealed a tangled web of strange actions and comments by Peterson as Stacy's family launched a search for her.

Former Los Angeles detective Mark Furhman is also on the scene with Van Susteran. Furhman, who took a career and personal beating during the O.J. Simpson murder case, has rightfully had his public credibility boosted since O.J.'s recent Las Vegas arrest in an armed robbery case. He's now an author, radio talk show host, and analyst/commentator on crime cases.

Their interview with Cales revealed several key components, including a fight between the couple just before Stacy disappeared, and a strange late night shuffling of the family cars. Peterson, was seen watching police activities wearing a mask made from an American flag bandana, dark sunglasses,and a dark cap pulled over his forehead.

Peterson, who was giving "abandoned husband and father" type media interviews, at the same time insisted that he doesn't want to be photographed, citing privacy concerns. If you think that's inconsistent, listen to what Cales related in Van Susteran's interview. Peterson earlier said that his wife left him for another man, that she has psychiatric problems, and that she had planned to disappear "deep down" like her mother. Stacy's mother disappeared eight years ago; that case has not yet been solved.

The Chicago Tribune, recovering from the sob sister account of Peterson's reaction to his missing wife, followed the money. Peterson received close to two million dollars in insurance policies and funds from the sale of joint properties after this third wife, Kathleen Savio, died in a mysterious bathtub accident.

Stavio's life insurance paid one million dollars to the couple's sons, who lived with Peterson and Stacy while Peterson, as guardian, controlled those funds. Investigators have reopened that case.

Also curious: Stacy disappeared at a time when media coverage of the disappearance of two other young Chicago-area women was at an all-time high. With Peterson saying that Stacy left him and her children, would those disappearances have provided an additional cover for any potential discovery of another body? This case has multiple possibilities and twists, but one overwhelming reality: Stacy Peterson is missing, and her family is terrified of what the police might find.

The Illinois State Police has opened a Tip Line at 1-815-726-6377.

Tentacles of Terrorism: Hometown Invasions

Although bombings, civilian slaughter and barbaric beheadings in Pakistan may seem a long way away from U.S. and European communities, the tentacles of terrorism are poisonous and long. Linked to a common body of radical Muslim religious beliefs, fueled by hatred of the West and disdain for "infidels," and trumpeted in calls for jihad, the messages are clear: Taliban, Al-Queda, and related groups are waging long-term war against the rest of the world.

Last week, public street slaughter marked Benair Bhutto's return to Pakistan. Suicide bombers, possibly linked to a direct Taliban threat, killed 143 people and injured hundreds of others in a bloody assassination attempt.

Bhutto is the first woman to overcome the sexist ghettos of the Muslim world and capture such a high leadership position. Before her return, Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, who reportedly commands 35,000 fighters, had previously bragged that his suicide bombers would greet her. Bhutto,who recently received another death threat, has now been prohibited from leaving Pakistan.

The attack on Bhutto's convoy sent a message: Taliban and Al-Qaeda terrorism and violence will not cease. Calling for jihad--a Muslim holy war--Taliban religious leader
Maulana Fazlullah has only begun his body count in the Swat region of Pakistan.

In the name of Mohammed, civilians were yanked out of a van in northwest Pakistan and slaughtered. Several police and security officers were captured and summarily beheaded. Although a Fazlullah aide issued the pro-forma denial and condemnation of the murders, the public statement is a direct contradiction to Fazlullah's call for jihad and his politics. He's the leader of TNSM, a vengeful Taliban group.

Among his accomplishments so far: the halting of a polio vacccination program in the Swat area, where several cases of polio have been reported. Added to that: a recent suicide bombing that killed about two dozen people and injured many more, and Fazlullah's tally of suffering and death is mounting.

The idea that daily doses of repression, hatred, death and destruction are limited to other portions of the world are central to the covert spread of radical Islamism. Regardless of whether it's Fazlullah calling for an extreme version of Sharia laws or radical Muslims forcing those beliefs on other cultures, the goals are the same: subjugation and control.

Using well-plotted interpretations of Sharia, radical Islamists in the United States have successfully challenged common-sense airport security, diverted focus from suspicious passengers to cries of racial victimization, all but shut down airport taxi service in Minneapolis, and created tempests over the simplest things, including supermarket checkouts. As Katherine Kersten points out in The Wall Street Journal, " By piggy-backing on our civil rights laws, Islamist activists aim to equate airport security with racial bigotry and to move slowly toward a two-tier legal system. Intimidation is a crucial tool."

In Amsterdam and Brussels, violence and riots among Muslim immigrant communities have become so common that entire areas are designated as too dangerous for police to enter. The politically correct NewSpeak for that is "sensitive urban area."

NewSpeak, too, has evident in the Holy Land terrorism financing trial in Dallas. Featuring a Muslim "religious" group accused of funneling charity funds to Hamas and other terrorist groups, the trial was the biggest in U.S. terror financing history.

One juror literally tried to run away. After the torturous deliberations, the trial was declared a mistrial. Although PC and NewSpeak efforts valiantly tried to present the defendants as poor victims of religious and racial persecution, it just wasn't so.

Instead, an eight-year federal investigation into the Richardson, TX Holy Land group found solid evidence of Hamas support. President George W. Bush ordered the charity shut down after agents tracked numerous links to terrorism, including:

Electronic surveillance of conversations in which Hamas leaders and Holy Land Foundation officers discussed the foundation's role in Hamas fund raising.

*Contributions made to the foundation by Mousa Abu Marzook, a former U.S. resident who was political leader of Hamas in the 1990s.

*Analyses showing that the majority of funds collected by the foundation went to support Hamas activities, including schools, hospitals and annuities for the families of suicide bombers. "

A succinct FBI memo noted: "In the United States they could raise funds, propagate their political goals, affect public opinion and influence decision-making of the U.S. government." Not only that, extreme Muslim views can re-shape efforts to fight crime. And it goes beyond just "sensitive urban areas."

As Planck's Constant points out, police now have to take special measures if they--gasp!--try to enter a Muslim residence, or arrest a Muslim. Among them:

Don't enter a Muslim home if only females are present.

If people are praying at home officers should stand aside and not disrupt the prayer. They should be allowed the opportunity to finish.

Use of police dogs will be considered serious desecration of the premises and may necessitate extensive cleaning of the house and disposal of household items.

Officers should not take shoes into the houses, especially in areas that might be kept pure for prayer purposes.

For reasons of dignity officers should seek to avoid entering occupied bedrooms and bathrooms.

Not only that, but in London, police have to notify a panel of Muslims before carrying out an anti-terrorism action. Among the items to be considered: how the raid would affect "community relations."

Police in the U.S. are also having to grapple, not with crime,but with not offending Muslims even if a crime has been committed. The U.S. Department of Justice has released special training materials for dealing with "Muslim Americans."

As best I recall, the U.S. government has survived for hundreds of years without making "special rules" for any one group. Why is it now so important that law enforcement be literally handcuffed when dealing with one special interest group?

Because the tentacles are long. Because the U.S. has a culture of accepting differences, we are at high risk to be undermined, bit by bit, by a culture and belief that intends to destroy the decadent West and the "infidels."

Because there are political leaders and groups who, wanting to hop on the PC band wagon, have literally caved in to preposterous demands. Better to sell out your country than to risk being called "racist" or "discriminatory."

The solution is simple: if you wish to come to the U.S., do what every other immigrant group has done: adapt to the existing culture. If you are not willing to do so, then return whence you came.

But putting that solution into action will be hard, given PC, NewSpeak, and the prostituting of freedom to political and religious groups who have only one goal in mind: destruction. Whether it be by bomb, riots, or demands that investigations and arrests be done their way, the goals are exactly the same.

Take another look at the photo with this post. If the Taliban, Al-Qaeda, and their political allies will do this to their own countrymen, what do you think they will do to infidels? In the long run, the terrorist acts of 9-11 will be proven to be only the beginning of a long, multiple-front war on Western culture and beliefs. And most of the gambits will be waged bit by bit, eroding even common sense applications of normal community activities, from policing to schooling.

Note: the cropped photo is used under the NY Times "share" option and also under Fair Use Doctrine. My thanks to the Times for the use of this photo.

"Preppie Killer" Arrested For Selling Drugs

He's a murderer, liar, thief, druggie, drug dealer, and con man--and now Robert Chambers may be headed back to prison. New York City cops, working a sting operation, busted this unrepentant killer and multiple loser on several charges of peddling drugs.

Chambers, who thought his good looks and sleazy charm would be his ticket to the high life, has already served 15 years for the vicious sexual killing of 18-year-old Jennifer Levin in New York City's Central Park in 1986. Among his many stories: he had to kill her in self defense. That's right, at 6' 4" and 200 pounds, he was being victimized by a girl who was 5'4", and 130-pounds. When Levin's battered body was found, the case became a notorious nightmare.

Not that Levin hadn't had problems before. Constantly in trouble in school, Levin was into drugs, burglaries, and credit card theft. But, groomed by a mother who wanted him to be socially upward mobile, Chambers covered up his inner punk-ness with the right clothes, a smile, and charm.

The vicious twists and turns of this case included a spinmeister's attack on Levin's character, and oh yes, more weird sex. While Chamber on bail and waiting for trial, he became the star of his own video that showed a party with Chambers twisting the head off a doll and mocking the murder charges with weird gyrations while young girls danced in their underwear.

Despite his pleas that he had been oh, so victimized, Chambers went to jail--but only for 15 years. After all, he was young, good-looking, and enough mud had been slung around about his murder victim that he didn't wind up with a tougher term.

After his release from prison, Chambers continued to be arrested, building up a solid record of drug abuse. And oh yes, there was that movie about the murder, starring Laura Flynn Boyle and Billy Baldwin.

Chambers, it seems, had achieved infamy, which apparently, he regards as fame. With his current arrest on multiple drug peddling charges, Chambers will have to work hard to cry "victim" just one more time.