"If you take my computer again, I can't do my homework."

That's 12-year-old Jasmine Palmer, speaking her mind to agents from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office, Los Angeles County Sheriff, Ventura County Sheriff, and the California Department of Food and Agriculture. She was objecting to the loss of her third computer in an early morning raid on her family's Ventura County farmhouse. They stand accused of selling raw milk goat cheese to members-only food clubs.

Via BoingBoing.

Comments

[Suki]

Good morning reason!

[Johnny Longtorso]

Jasmine is learning the most important lesson, submission and obedience.

[Suki]

+1

[Jordan Elliot]

This is pretty hot now.

[shrike]

Good. Little bitch's parents broke the law. She SHOULD suffer.

[JohnD]

Shrike, I hope your comment was tounge in cheek. Otherwise, you are a damn fool.

[The Libertarian Guy]

Oh, he's that, JohnD... a damn fool.

[Jordan Elliot]

I'll say again what I said yesterday.(The story was in Morning Links.)

Let people consume what they wish. What is so hard to comprehend about that? Someone who is buying raw milk probably has done enough research on it to know the risks. If they get sick, so be it.

[JW]

But, but...THE CHILUNZ!

[Jordan Elliot]

Yeah? What about them?

If they can't handle a little raw milk, get them the fuck out of the gene pool I say.

Hehehehe

[Jason]

Not only that, but there's a good chance they're going to do something like make cheese or yogurt out of it or something else that requires raw milk to do.

[Fist of Etiquette]

First of all, Jasmine needs to learn to do her homework without a computer, the way we did it back in the day, uphill.

Secondly, UNLICENSED GOAT CHEESE! KILL THEM!

[old man get with it]

Fist of Etiquette, they received their assignments through the school website, and sometimes papers are submitted via the internet.

[Nipplemancer]

uphill both ways, in the snow, without shoes...

[Daniel]

I wonder what the FDA is going to do with those 6th grade research papers....
I wonder if there is one on the degradation of liberties in modern America....
She could interview the leading officer of the raid for her research.

[Virginia]

The really weak part is the hired guns doing the raiding don't give a rat's ass. They're only in it for the pay check. Talk about no purpose.

[CaptainSmartass]

Modern cops fit the definition of Lawful Neutral to a T: they don't care what the law is, only that it is the law and therefore must be enforced. Pretty sad when your whole outlook on life can be summed up in a tautology.

[Abdul]

Third raid for raw milk? I understand why people sell drugs despite the risks of arrest--there's money in it, they're addicts, there's even a little glamor in that "50 cent" kind of way.

But raw milk? Just how good is an unpasteurized milkshake that you're going to keep making them after you get arrested?

[Scotticus Finch]

Do you have any idea how much hipsters will pay for milk that hasn't been raped by the indiscriminate wang of corporatism?

[Tim]

Milk is for squirting out yer rear end, not drinking you sick little perverts.

[Tom]

Tim, you should see a doctor.

[Tam Tem Tum and Sometimes Tym]

Hey guys!

[Tim]

It's time to start machine gunning cattle from low flying Hueys and spraying agent orange on their pastures.
Maybe consider cash incentives to get the farmers to switch to legal crops, like marijuana...

[AlmightyJB]

It's really a shame that California can't find anywhere in the budget to make cuts. No where at all.

My suggestion to the family is to change their last name to Sanchez, then Obama will sue California if they raid their home again.

[Nick]

Standard disclaimer that all raids for stupid reasons piss me off, but what the hell does a child's computer have to do with stopping people from providing raw milk to other people? Did they confiscate everything in the house and if so, what the hell for?

[Nephilium]

what the hell for?

Because they can?

[-]

I believe they call it "evidence." It might be a "child's computer" but it works for adults as well. Unless it's one of those Fisher Price toy computers that teaches farm toddlers how to differentiate sheep from cows from dogs, with handy and entertaining sound effects. But we digress, as usual.

[CoyoteBlue]

Taking computers during search warrants has become the default for all types of cops. 90% of the time, they don't have the time or technical skills (what little is neccessary) to review what's on the computer in a manner that doesn't taint the evidence. Police evidence lockers are overflowing with computer towers from teenage farmgirls, small-time drug dealer's gaming computer and burglars' pron faucets.

It has become a basic form of punitive punishment. She'll get them back - eventually/maybe - and probably damaged.

[Highway]

It's the default, probably because they're a cash cow and a great place for a fishing expedition. First they can look for anything on the computer that might be useful as evidence of the crime the warrant was for, or any other crime. Then they can either sell them off for more cash for the department, or if they're better than their home computer, they can take em home and woot! upgrade!

[Joe R.]

I hate punitive punishment.

[fresno dan]

"Unless it's one of those Fisher Price toy computers that teaches farm toddlers how to differentiate sheep from cows from dogs"
I don't know why they would make an exception to a Fisher-Price computer - it helps the young to learn about cows, and soon they are in the milk business.
Drain the swamp must be their philosophy.

[Scooby]

It's part of the government's stimulus plan- confiscate old computers to increase demand for new computers.

Most families haven't been stimulated in this fashion, but this family has been stimulated three times so far.

[Ding Bottle]

LOL, OK that makes a lot of sense dude

Lou
http://www.privacy-tools.be.tc

[Andrew S.]

You've changed, privacy bot. You used to be cool. What happened?

[-]

The Chinese, man. The Chinese happened.

[Walter]

What the fuck are you talking about? The chinaman is not the issue here, Dude. I'm talking about drawing a line in the sand, Dude. Across this line, you DO NOT... Also, Dude, chinaman is not the preferred nomenclature. Asian-American, please.

[-]

Last night I shot a Chink in my armor.
What he was doing in my armor I'll never know.

[anarch]

I learned of an Amish farmer who delivered raw milk to consumers across the Ohio/Kentucky border. One day as he was pulling up to the drop-off point, his car was ambushed by government agents who surrounded him with drawn guns and confiscated the milk. Farmer went into shock, spent weeks in the hospital recovering.

[?]

An Amish farmer with a car? That alone is suspicious.

[WTF]

Probably Mennonite.

[anarch]

You're right; I sloppily wrote "his car."

[Michael]

That'll teach that snippy little brat to support correct, state approved agribusiness. Kids these days...

[Citizen Nothing]

MNG would tell us that you gotta break a few unwashed eggs to make a safe (i.e. government-approved) omelet.
And then he would later argue that his point is much more nuanced than that.

[Old Mexican]

Chad would tell us that the cheese-makers have to "return" at least 33% of what they "took" from society (i.e. their income), since without society there would be no cheese market.

Among other really stupid things he has said.

[P Brooks]

That little girl might have downloaded The Anarchist's Cookbook or something.

[Speak-N-Spell]

The Cow says : Moo!

The Duck says : Quack!

The Federal Agent says : Freeze motherfucker!

[Citizen Nothing]

Heh heh heh

[abc]

+1

[Jason S.]

The parents should buy a cheap Flip video camera for the child and film the next raid. Stupid farmers.

[yet another dave]

"The parents should buy a cheap Flip video camera for the child and film the next raid. Stupid farmers."

What, are trying to get the little tyke shot?

[WTF]

The parents should buy a cheap Flip video camera SKS for the child and film the next raid teach her how to shoot it at running state and local agents.

[Stacy]

"The parents should buy a cheap Flip video camera SKS for the child and film the next raid teach her how to shoot it at running state and local agents."

Yup, that'll definitely end well. You can't compete with the government's firepower - it's silly to even try.

You can, however, pretty easily compete with their technical competence. Using cloud computing services to run your business, with multiple online backups would make it easy to have the lights back on before the door closes behind the SWAT team. Yes, they can subpoena your cloud apps, but they're already walking in and taking your computers.

[FakeName]

Considering that raw milk can contain E. coli O157:H7, M. bovis, Campylobacter which can be spread from human to human (via water/air), trade and consumption of raw milk is a public health issue. Nobody can deny one's right to infect oneself with O157:H7 or TB but I am sure commentators out here will agree that one does not have the right to infect others with the same. Either raw milk consumers must put up with regulation governing consumption of raw milk (maybe testing to detect disease causing microbes in the milk + regular checkups to see if they are carriers) or they must internalise the cost of consuming raw milk (how about suing them if they are the proximate cause of an infection?).