Homeland Stupidity

Homeland Security agent arrested after road rage shooting at mall

"Echevarria honked his horn at Juma's car after Juma cut him off near the Town Center mall. In response, Juma shot up his middle finger. Echevarria, driving with his wife and five children, tried to follow Juma's red Toyota but crashed into the back of another car. In the mall parking lot near the Nordstrom store, Echevarria saw Juma's car and parked his black Honda Pilot nose-to-nose with it. The special agent, dressed in civilian clothes, got out of his car, pointed a .40-caliber Sig Sauer handgun at Juma's car, and announced he was a police officer. Echevarria said Juma sped away, bumping him. The agent fired one round at the Toyota, police said, with the bullet lodging in the rear driver's side wheel well." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHomeland Security agent arrested after road rage shooting at mall

Don’t Pull in Front of a Fatherland “Security” Bureaucrat on a Highway…

"...or he may follow you to a parking lot and fire a 40 caliber pistol into the side of your car, like this moron did in Boca Raton, Florida a few weeks ago. Fortunately, the round did not hit the two-year-old boy who was in his car seat at the time with his dad at the Boca Raton mall. If the victim of this shooting by the madman Department of Fatherland Security bureaucrat had defended himself and his child by shooting back, he would have been arrested for murder. And, forty years ago, he would have responded either by beating the living daylights out of the Department of Fatherland Security bureaucrat who fired a 40 caliber round at his family, or organizing enough friends to get the job done." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDon’t Pull in Front of a Fatherland “Security” Bureaucrat on a Highway…

IRS Seizes Small Store’s Bank Account. It’s Asset Forfeiture. It’s Legal.

"This man runs a small store. His insurance company insures against theft for only $10,000 per robbery. So, his daughter waited until there was $9,000. Then she deposited the money in the bank. An IRS agent seized the money. She charged 'structuring.' The IRS requires you to report cash deposits in excess of $10,000. It also prohibits 'structuring' — deposits just under $10,000. 'How will I pay my workers?' he said. 'I don’t care,' she replied. She handed him her card. The Internet may give the story enough coverage to convince the IRS agent’s superior that the bad publicity isn’t worth $35,000. Otherwise, this man is out of business." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIRS Seizes Small Store’s Bank Account. It’s Asset Forfeiture. It’s Legal.

Feds Steal $35K From Small Grocer’s Bank Account Despite ‘No Violations’

"Schott's Market, in Fraser, Michigan, was robbed in January of this year. Unfortunately for Terry Dehko and his daughter, Sandy, who own the place, the thieves are government agents in the emply of the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS doesn't even allege that the Dehkos committed a crime to justify cleaning out their bank account using civil asset forfeiture—they even sent the Dehknos a letter clarifying that 'no violations [of banking laws] were identified.' So, why the mugging? The feds just don't like the way the grocers have been depositing money in their bank account. Really." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFeds Steal $35K From Small Grocer’s Bank Account Despite ‘No Violations’

Gun gesture leads to suspension for Calvert sixth-grader

"A sixth-grader in Calvert County was suspended for forming his hand into a gun on his bus ride to school, an incident that adds to a string of recent high-profile cases involving punishments for children who gesture with imaginary weapons. Carin Read, mother of the 11-year-old student at Mill Creek Middle School in Lusby, filed an appeal of the suspension late last week, after a principal denied her request to remove the alleged infraction from her son’s school records. The boy had already served a day-long in-school suspension, and Read argued that he should not have a permanent record over the matter." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGun gesture leads to suspension for Calvert sixth-grader

Man tries to float from Mexico to U.S. on duffel bag filled with pot

"Border Patrol agents arrested a man who they said tried to float from Mexico to the U.S. on a duffel bag filled with marijuana. Agents said Monday the man was stopped about a mile north of the border near San Diego after they heard reports Sept. 19 of someone swimming late at night in the Pacific Ocean. The agents said the 55-year-old man was floating about 600 yards from shore. The man told agents he was from Mexico, and he was taken into custody. Agents said they found a little more than 52 pounds of pot inside the bag. The marijuana was worth more than $23,000, agents said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMan tries to float from Mexico to U.S. on duffel bag filled with pot

Declassified Documents: NSA Spied On MLK Jr., Senators, Journalists

"The six-year spying program, dubbed 'Minaret,' had been exposed in the 1970s but the targets of the surveillance had been kept secret until now. The documents were published after the government panel overseeing classification ruled in favor of researchers at George Washington University who had long sought the release of the secret papers. The intensity of anti-war dissent at home led President Lyndon Johnson to ask US intelligence agencies in 1967 to find out if some protests were fueled by foreign powers. The NSA worked with other spy agencies to draw up 'watch lists' of anti-war critics to tap their overseas phone calls." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDeclassified Documents: NSA Spied On MLK Jr., Senators, Journalists

How I Learned to Stop Feeling Safe in My Own Country

"Earlier this month, OTM producer Sarah Abdurrahman, her family, and her friends were detained for hours by US Customs and Border Protection on their way home from Canada. Everyone being held was a US citizen, and no one received an explanation. Sarah tells the story of their detainment, and her difficulty getting any answers from one of the least transparent agencies in the country." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow I Learned to Stop Feeling Safe in My Own Country

Libyan-American Rapper Khaled M Removed From Plane, Detained

"Rapper Khaled Ahmed has drawn attention to airport security and detention practices after he tweeted about his experience of being removed from a connecting flight by unidentified security officials on Monday. Khaled says he was detained, questioned, and had his belongings confiscated without explanation. Khaled is a Libyan-American hip-hop artist who performs under the moniker 'Khaled M.' He first rose to prominence in the hip-hop community with his songs about the Arab spring and events in his ancestral homeland of Libya. After the incident, Khaled M described the experience and expressed his frustration with his repeated run-ins with flight security." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLibyan-American Rapper Khaled M Removed From Plane, Detained

Greenwald: NSA’s view of drone opponents as ‘threats’ and ‘adversaries’

"Under the title 'adversary propaganda themes', the document lists what it calls 'examples of potential propaganda themes that could be employed against UAV operations'. It states: 'Attacks against American and European persons who have become violent extremists are often criticized by propagandists, arguing that lethal action against these individuals deprives them of due process.' In the eyes of the US government, 'due process' – the idea that the US government should not deprive people of life away from a battlefield without presenting evidence of guilt – is no longer a basic staple of the American political system, but rather a malicious weapon of 'propagandists'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGreenwald: NSA’s view of drone opponents as ‘threats’ and ‘adversaries’