Imperial Presidency

Feds want mental health records, float plan to ban guns from legal pot smokers

"The Department of Justice now wants to be notified of any mental health concerns and commitments 'for other reasons' for Americans so their names can be added to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System list of people banned from owning guns. But it appears the requirements of the privacy rule for medical records will be a barrier to that quick transfer of personal details, so the Department of Health and Human Services has proposed a change. Attorneys Todd Garvey and Brian Yeh wrote that federal firearms regulators will be aggressive about banning anyone who uses marijuana from buying – or possessing – a weapon." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFeds want mental health records, float plan to ban guns from legal pot smokers

U.S. to provide ‘direct military support’ to Syrian rebels

"President Barack Obama has authorized sending U.S. weapons to Syrian rebels for the first time, a U.S. official said on Thursday after the White House said it has proof the Syrian government had used chemical weapons against opposition forces fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. The White House said Washington would provide 'direct military support' to the opposition but did not specify whether it would include lethal aid. But the U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the package would include weapons. Syrian rebel and political opposition leaders immediately called for anti-aircraft and other sophisticated weaponry." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. to provide ‘direct military support’ to Syrian rebels

With Scandals Raging At Home, Obama Discovers Chemical Weapons Use in Syria

"In a time of choking scandal, a light at the end of the tunnel has appeared for the Obama regime: his old friend war! The entirety of the US corporate media is breathlessly -- and, predictably, in lockstep -- amplifying the Obama administration's sudden amazingly convenient discovery that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons after all! Just a few weeks ago the US Intelligence Community did not believe claims that the Syrian government used chemicals. Now, with no formal investigation at all and no word on the chain of evidence or its source, we are told with absolute certainty that the Assad government has used the weapons." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWith Scandals Raging At Home, Obama Discovers Chemical Weapons Use in Syria

Schwagstock founder Jimmy Tebeau enters federal prison; should other music-festival organizers worry?

"At first prosecutors weren't sure what charges to press against Tebeau. They used asset-forfeiture proceedings to take his land and freeze his bank accounts. Finally, six months after the raid on Tebeau's property, they accused him of 'maintaining a drug involved premises' — a violation originally intended to punish landlords who lease houses to crack dealers. The law, broadly drafted to criminalize properties maintained 'for the purpose of unlawfully manufacturing, storing, distributing, or using a controlled substance,' dates back to the mid-1980s, but it was amended in 2002 at the urging of then-U.S. Senator Joe Biden." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSchwagstock founder Jimmy Tebeau enters federal prison; should other music-festival organizers worry?

How Snowden Did an End Run Around the NSA and the Obama Administration

"Snowden went to the Washington Post first, but when the Post waffled, he dropped them and went to Glenn Greenwald, a pro-civil rights lawyer who lives in Brazil and writes for The Guardian, a British newspaper/website. Greenwald wrote up the story as Snowden gave it to him, thereby scooping the world. He gets 100% credit, as does The Guardian. The Washington Post gets also-ran status. These days, a leaker with a story can get his story out his way. There is always a journalist somewhere who will run it. If it’s in a major publication, which The Guardian is, the story will get coverage. A leaker no longer has to do it anyone else’s way. He can do it his way." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow Snowden Did an End Run Around the NSA and the Obama Administration

Putin Lectures Obama on the Need for Greater Privacy

"So here is a former KGB official saying that America has gone too far in spying on its people. Worse, he’s correct. He said that Snowden’s revelations have revealed nothing new. He is correct. James Bamford has repeatedly revealed how far the NSA has gone. But the American public did not know. Snowden has gotten media attention for spilling beans that have long been out of the bag. Americans need a good scandal to catch their attention. Snowden is the source of the scandal. Bamford should have been, but he wasn’t. He was ignored. But the cloak-and-dagger story of Snowden in Hong Kong is irresistible. And now we get Vladimir Putin, defender of civil rights." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPutin Lectures Obama on the Need for Greater Privacy

Candidate Obama Debates President Obama On Government Surveillance

"On August 1, 2007, candidate Barack Obama sharply criticized then-President George W. Bush's government surveillance programs. Recently, following the disclosures of Edward Snowden, President Barack Obama defended the NSA's top-secret PRISM program. If you don't agree with President Obama, exercise your 1st amendment rights so together we can save our 4th amendment rights before it's too late." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCandidate Obama Debates President Obama On Government Surveillance

Ron Paul: Defending the NSA means embracing ‘dictatorship’

"Appearing on CNN with host Piers Morgan on Monday, former Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) said that NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden has embarked on 'a heroic effort' in telling the world about the U.S. government’s spying capabilities, and warned that defending this type of unilateral, unchecked power means embracing 'dictatorship' moving forward. 'For somebody to tell the American people the truth is a heroic effort, and he knows that it’s very risky,' he continued. 'He knows he’s committing civil disobedience, and he knows that he could get punished.' Paul went on to say he believes there should be talk of penalties for officials who 'destroy the Constitution.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRon Paul: Defending the NSA means embracing ‘dictatorship’

US lawmakers call for review of Patriot Act after NSA surveillance revelations

"In unbroadcast elements of a transcript issued by NBC, the director of National Intelligence, James Clapper, said he had responded in the 'least untruthful manner' possible when denying that the NSA collected data on millions of Americans during congressional hearings. Clapper also confirmed that senator Dianne Feinstein, chair of the intelligence committee, had asked for a review to 'refine these NSA processes and limit the exposure to Americans' private communications' and report back 'in about a month'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUS lawmakers call for review of Patriot Act after NSA surveillance revelations