News Items

Meet Stingray Surveillance: The “Unconstitutional, All-You-Can-Eat Data Buffet”

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It’s getting impossible to keep track of all the new spy tools being rolled out by the police state in the name of “fighting terrorism”, aka spying on innocent American citizens unconstitutionally.  I thought that I had my hands full the other day with ARGUS: The World’s Highest Resolution Video Surveillance Platform, but this “Stingray” system is already being deployed illegally in cities throughout the United States.  As the EFF states: “The Stingray is the digital equivalent of the pre-revolutionary British soldier.”  From the EFF:

The device, which acts as a fake cell phone tower, essentially allows the government to electronically search large areas for a particular cell phone’s signal—sucking down data on potentially thousands of innocent people along the way. At the same time, law enforcement has attempted use them while avoiding many of the traditional limitations set forth in the Constitution, like individualized warrants. This is why we called the tool “an unconstitutional, all-you-can-eat data buffet.”

Recently, LA Weekly reported the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) got a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grant in 2006 to buy a stingray. The original grant request said it would be used for “regional terrorism investigations.” Instead LAPD has been using it for just about any investigation imaginable.

Of course, we’ve seen this pattern over and over and over. The government uses “terrorism” as a catalyst to gain some powerful new surveillance tool or ability, and then turns around and uses it on ordinary citizens, severely infringing on their civil liberties in the process.

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How in NYC the Homeless Pay $3,000/Month to Live in Tenements

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I read a lot of news every day.  It’s become my life and my passion.  Rarely do I come across a story of greed and corruption so absurd that I can’t believe my own eyes as they scroll the page.  This is one of those stories.

This takes the concept of slumlord to an entirely new level.  As New York City struggles to find shelter for its increasingly large homeless population, some landlords are paying off their rent-stabilized tenants in order to overcharge the city on rentals for the homeless.  In some cases, the rent ends up being as high as $3,000 a month for a tiny room without a kitchen or a bathroom.  Yep, you read that correctly.  So next time you wonder why you are paying so much money for your little box in the sky, you can thank America’s growing slumlord industry.  Prepare your jaw to remain open for the next couple of minutes.

From the New York Times:

The city’s Department of Homeless Services pays many times the amount the rooms would usually rent for — spending over $3,000 a month for each threadbare room without a bathroom or kitchen — because of an acute shortage in shelters for homeless men and women.

Indeed, the amount the city pays — roughly half that amount goes to the landlord, while the other half pays for security and social services for homeless tenants — has encouraged Mr. Lapes to switch business models and become a major private operator of homeless shelters. He is by most measures the city’s largest and owns or leases about 20 of the 231 shelters citywide. Most of the other shelters and residences are run by the city or by nonprofit agencies, but his operation is profit-making, prompting criticism from advocates for the homeless and elected officials.

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Watertown, New York Decides to “Ban Roommates”

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I understand the concept of not wanting fifty people living in a single family home within a residential neighborhood, but this law bans roommates altogether.  Is this another brilliant scheme to revive the housing market?  Sounds to me like a great way to create more homeless people in a phony recovery everyone knows doesn’t really exist.

From YNN:

WATERTOWN, N.Y. — Lawmakers in Watertown came to a decision that brings more questions than answers. Mainly, can government decide what is and what isn’t a family?

By a vote of three to two, Watertown’s City Council amended a law Monday night that dictates how many roommates a homeowner can have in a single family home in a residential neighborhood. The law used to allow four. Now, it’s zero.

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More Stealth Inflation as Maker’s Mark Slashes Alcohol Content

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They just ain’t making Maker’s like they used to.  According to company, an apparent bourbon shortage has besieged the company leaving it no choice but to cut the alcohol content of their booze from 45% to 42%. I’m sorry, but this excuse reeks of marketing spin.  What manufacturer decides to dilute their product when they … Read more

Australian General Gets Key U.S. Army Post

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This sounds like a bad idea.  Like a really, really bad idea.  While I understand the concept of allies, I don’t see the need to place a foreign citizen in such a high position of power within the U.S. Armed Forces.  At the end of the day, where do this person’s loyalties ultimately lie?   With the American citizenry or with the Australian government?  Has he even read the U.S. Constitution?  How cozy is he with the Queen of England?  In his bio we see: “In a key representational appointment, Major General Burr was privileged to be the Equerry to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for the 2000 Royal Visit to Australia.  How cute.

From the Associated Press:

FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii (AP) — Maj. Gen. Richard Burr salutes with his palm facing out, like he’s shielding his eyes from the sun. He wears a wide-brimmed felt “slouch hat” with a brown and green camouflage uniform.

The two-star general in the Australian Defence Force stands out amid the American soldiers donning berets and green and beige fatigues at the U.S. Army’s headquarters for the Pacific. But he’s responsible for directing their training and exercises as U.S. Army Pacific’s deputy commander for operations.

Burr’s appointment — it’s the first time a non-American has served in such a high-ranking position at a command like this— symbolizes the Army’s push to connect more with allies and friendly nations in the Pacific as it implements the Obama administration’s policy to “rebalance” national defense strategy toward the region.

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Guest Post: A Connecticut Family’s Battle Against The State

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This past Thursday, I became aware of a very troubling bill being proposed in the state of Connecticut, which prompted me to write the post: Are “Mandatory Mental Health Assessments” for Children Coming to Connecticut?  Upon reading it, a money manager in Connecticut who I have gotten to know over the years wrote me an email.  I was so impressed by his passion and writing skills I asked him to compose a “Guest Post” for the site; something I rarely do.  What follows are the impassioned words of a father, husband and concerned citizen.  Enjoy.

Soon after my wife and I got married in 2008, a pregnancy prompted family members to ask us about our plans for educating our kids.  The official response was one of uncertainty, but between the two of us we knew that we preferred homeschooling.   

I suspect all parents have a line in the sand when it comes to public schools.  The line gets crossed when the safety level, education quality, peer influences, or espoused morals and values of the local government school deteriorate to so base a level, that as parents you realize that sending your kids there would be tantamount to dereliction of duty, gross negligence, wholesale surrender, etc. 

The line might be located in different places for different parents depending on their own values and the conviction with which their values are held, but all parents have a line.  Both parents work?  Can’t afford private school?   Not qualified for homeschooling?  It doesn’t matter, if the school down the road crossed the line you’d pull your kid out and you’d find a way to make it work.  If you haven’t pulled your kid out yet, it just mean that the local school hasn’t crossed the line. 

We live in CT and I am homeschooling my three boys because upon surveying the options, we decided to opt-out out of 10,000 “mandatory” things that get done to kids at government schools in exchange for a “free” education.  Do it ourselves, we thought.  If we threw a fraction of the money at lessons and tutors that other families throw at tuition, we’d have a fighting chance of doing an even better job than the private school alternative.  And best of all, we would enjoy the liberty of doing it our way, watching our kids walk in the way of goodness and excellence, without being exasperated as we beat back all the menacing influences that foist themselves upon kids at government schools.  In short, we would opt-out.  Not for the sake of rebelling, but for the sake of still standing a chance at getting a taste of the pursuit of happiness that our present vestiges of liberty still permit. 

No more.  If CT gets their way, and Bill 374 becomes law, my family’s private pursuit of happiness will be allowed only if it wins the approval or disapproval of the State’s mental health inspection teams. 

The justification of Bill 374 is innocent enough; pass this bill to allow the State to perform mental health evaluations on adolescents, so that the State can prevent another Sandy Hook tragedy by intervening in the lives of troubled adolescents before it’s too late.  In reality, this bill lays the groundwork for much more. 

First, note that Bill 374 does not exempt home-schooled children; in fact, it singles them out and specifically requires them too to get periodic evaluations and inspections.  Parental consent is not determined to be relevant. 

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Picture of the Day: The Power of the People

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The image below couldn’t be more true.  The ruling class are nothing more than a bunch of ponzi scheme running, Wizard of Oz con men.  Great job to whoever created this. In Liberty, Mike Like this post? Donate bitcoins: 35DBUbbAQHTqbDaAc5mAaN6BqwA2AxuE7G Follow me on Twitter.

HSBC Chairman: Banker Bonuses “Very Powerful for the Good”

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This is what happens when you bail out the bankers.  Give the guy a break though, doing God’s work ain’t easy.  From the Herald Scotland:

BANKERS’ bonuses can be a powerful source of good, according to Douglas Flint, the Glaswegian who chairs banking giant HSBC.

Giving evidence to the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards, Mr. Flint defended banks’ practices of paying top employees a bonus that can be many multiples of their basic salary.

He said: “I think used properly it is very powerful for the good.”

Since the financial crisis, the banking industry has faced accusations that the lure of high bonuses encourages staff to take large risks.

Such as money laundering for Mexican drug cartels perhaps?

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Must Watch Video: Is the NDAA Lawsuit Headed to the Supreme Court?

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The NDAA lawsuit is one of the key topics I have written about over the past year or so.  For those of you that aren’t up to speed, one of the most popular posts I ever wrote was NDAA: The Most Important Lawsuit in American History that No One is Talking About.  Basically, Section 1021 of … Read more

Are “Mandatory Mental Health Assessments” for Children Coming to Connecticut?

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In case you haven’t heard, Bill 374 has been proposed in Connecticut’s General Assembly seemingly in response to the Sandy Hook tragedy.  Just another brilliant response to a random act of violence; you know, because the state’s gun control laws worked so well.  Notice how everything is starting to become “mandatory” these days.  I wonder how … Read more