bill of rights

Man’s Home Raided After Son’s Facebook Picture Shows Gun

"After seeing a photo of an 11-year-old boy holding a rifle on Facebook (photo shown cropped at right), New Jersey police and Department of Children and Families officials raided the home of the boy’s father, Shawn Moore, a firearms instructor. Moore was not arrested or charged, but immediately sought the counsel of his lawyer. Moore is a certified firearms instructor for the National Rifle Association, an NRA range safety officer, and a New Jersey hunter education instructor. He posted a photograph of his son wearing camouflage and holding his .22 rifle. The boy has a New Jersey hunting license and has passed the state’s hunter safety course." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMan’s Home Raided After Son’s Facebook Picture Shows Gun

Child-Snatchers and Gun-Grabbers Unite

"The investigators were demanding access to the family’s gun safe to see if all of their firearms were registered. At one point the child 'safety' bureaucrats threatened to seize Moore’s children. He demanded to see a search warrant, and when none was produced, he ordered the investigators to leave. The visit apparently followed an anonymous tip prompted by a Facebook photo of Moore’s 11-year-old son Josh, who is holding a .22-caliber rifle he had received as a birthday present. The rifle’s cosmetic features make it resemble one of those dreaded 'assault weapons' that cause Diane Feinstein to twist her Gorgon features into a grimace of pious disapproval." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChild-Snatchers and Gun-Grabbers Unite

Bradley Manning and Freedom of the Press

"Reading from a prepared statement, Manning said he was not pressured by WikiLeaks to release the information and that he wanted to give the documents to The Washington Post, The New York Times, and Reuters, but they did not want what he had to offer. He also said the leaked information had 'upset' or 'disturbed' him, but did not contain anything he thought would harm the United States if it became public. Regarding the Collateral Murder video, Manning said the 'most alarming part to me was the seemingly delightful blood-lust' and that those in the video 'seemed to not value human life by referring to them as ‘dead bastards.’'" Continue reading →

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Business lobby moves to criminalize filming animal abuse on factory farms

"Bills being shopped in six states by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) would make it a crime to film animal abuse at factory farms or lie on job applications, in hopes of shutting down animal rights activists who infiltrate slaughterhouses to expose ghastly conditions. The proposals mandate that evidence of animal abuse be turned over to law enforcement within 48 hours, or face a financial penalty. Several of the bills also make it a crime to lie on slaughterhouse job applications, which activists commonly do in order to get footage like the content of a video published by the HSUS, embedded below." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBusiness lobby moves to criminalize filming animal abuse on factory farms

Airport security set for boom despite budget cuts

"The airport security sector is still expected to soar despite US budget cutbacks as air traffic grows and the threat of terrorism persists, analysts say. Screening passengers and baggage as well as surveillance at airports is a business that has boomed as countries radically tightened security in the wake of the September 11 attacks. In addition to new types of screening equipment, the drive to better target screening by use of information on travellers available to border control agencies will rely heavily on technology and data gathering." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAirport security set for boom despite budget cuts

NYPD faces class-action lawsuit over controversial stop-and-frisk policy

"A landmark trial challenging the New York police department’s controversial stop-and-frisk policy began in a lower Manhattan court on Monday. The class action suit accuses the NYPD of violating the constitutional rights of hundreds of thousands of innocent New Yorkers on a widespread and systemic basis. New York city police officers stopped 685,724 citizens in 2011, continuing an upward trend that began when Michael Bloomberg became mayor. Nearly nine out of 10 of those stopped in 2011 had committed no crime. The vast majority were black or Latino." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNYPD faces class-action lawsuit over controversial stop-and-frisk policy

Obama administration: Warrantless GPS tracking needed to fight terrorism

"The Obama administration will argue before a federal appeals court on Tuesday that law enforcement must regain the ability to use GPS tracking devices without a warrant, which it says is necessary to continue the fight against terrorism. The use of GPS devices in warrantless snooping has been illegal since January 2012, when the Supreme Court ruled that vehicles are private property protected by the Fourth Amendment, which guarantees freedom from unreasonable search and seizure. If the Obama administration is successful on its appeal however, GPS devices will be fair game for police nationwide." Continue reading →

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Anti-drone devices for sale: military contractor claims to have counter-UAV technology

"Domestic drones will soon be soaring through the sky left and right, but a company in Oregon with ties to the US military is marketing a service that they say will make sure private property is safe from surveillance. The team at one-month-old Domestic Drone Countermeasures doesn’t go into many specifics, but says they can offer services that will make sure Americans aren’t being spied on by hovering eyes in the sky. The Federal Aviation Administration expects there to be roughly 30,000 drones in American airspace by the year 2020." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAnti-drone devices for sale: military contractor claims to have counter-UAV technology