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September 8, 2010

Charles Oliver The Dalton Daily Citizen Wed Sep 08, 2010, 06:04 AM EDT

Felicia Gibson was sitting on her front porch in Salisbury, N.C., videotaping a nearby traffic stop when Officer Mark Hunter noticed her. He ordered her to go inside her house. She apparently didn’t move fast enough to please him, so he arrested her for obstructing an officer. A judge found Gibson guilty of the charge and sentenced her to six months probation.

Who would like to see the United States abolish birthright citizenship? A whole bunch of Canadians, apparently. Just about anyone born in the United States is legally considered a U.S. citizen. That includes an untold number of Canadians who, because their parents were working in or visiting the United States or because the nearest hospital was in the United States, were born on the southern side of the border. That wouldn’t be a big deal except the U.S. is one of the few countries that isn’t a dictatorship that taxes citizens for income earned while residing outside their “home” country. So these people, who have lived and worked all their lives in Canada and consider themselves Canadian citizens, owe U.S. taxes. Further, the U.S. recently adopted a law that will attempt to force foreign banks to reveal the accounts of all U.S. citizens. So why not just renounce their U.S. citizenship? According to the Calgary Herald, many are doing that. But they find the U.S. has made it an expensive, time-consuming process, one that includes paying all their U.S. tax obligations first.

The Philadelphia police have arrested at least nine men with valid licenses to carry a handgun in the past year and charged them with illegally carrying a weapon. Prosecutors dropped all charges against the men, but police have returned only one man’s gun. Under Pennsylvania law, residents can obtain a concealed weapon permit from another state if they meet the requirements of that state. That’s popular among Philly residents because it’s difficult to get a permit in the city. But Philadelphia police officers hate the “loophole,” and some will arrest those with permits from other states. “Officers’ safety comes first, and not infringing on people’s rights comes second,” said Lt. Fran Healy, a special adviser to Philadelphia’s police commissioner.

Some time back, I told you about Martins Ferry (Ohio) Police Chief Barry Carpenter, one of two police chiefs convicted for their part in the burglary of the home of the surrogate mother of actress Sarah Jessica Parker’s twins. The burglars hoped to sell the items they stole to celebrity photographers. Now, Ohio media report that city officials have found 18 pornographic videos and 347 pornographic photographs on the computer in Carpenter’s former office.

Charles Oliver is a staff writer for The Daily Citizen. Got a suggestion for It Couldn’t Happen Here? E-mail it to him at charlesoliver@daltoncitizen.com.

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