Land Of The Flea

Judge Upholds Suit Against Feds Who Arrested Former Marine For Facebook Posts

"On August 16, 2012, Raub was visited by local police, FBI agents and Secret Service personnel who questioned him about his Facebook posts. Raub was cooperative and discussed his activity with the officers, despite their not having a warrant. At some point, one of the agents made a call to Michael Campbell, a psychotherapist retained by the county who decided, despite having never met or observed Raub, that the former Marine was 'potentially dangerous' and should be detained. At that point, the collected officers cuffed Raub and took him to the local jail before having him committed to the mental hospital." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJudge Upholds Suit Against Feds Who Arrested Former Marine For Facebook Posts

Police chief defends ‘libtards’ rant: ‘Cops are there to clean up the mess’

"Embattled Gilberton, Pennsylvania police Chief Mark Kessler is currently serving a 30-day suspension for using local property without permission in a series of videos in which he fires weapons while loudly cursing 'libtards.' He has since referred to Democrats as 'the most vile creatures in this country' and accused Gilberton City Council members of planning a 'kangaroo court' against him. 'I don’t regret it,' Kessler said to WTXF regarding the videos. 'I believe I have had an impact on a lot of people across the country. You would not believe the tens of thousands of emails. My phone doesn’t stop.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPolice chief defends ‘libtards’ rant: ‘Cops are there to clean up the mess’

Intelligence director introduces group to review NSA privacy issues

"US intelligence director James Clapper introduced a review group Monday that will assess whether the right balance is being struck between national security and personal privacy. The group will assess whether the US 'optimally protects our national security and advances our foreign policy while appropriately accounting for other policy considerations,' the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) said in a statement. The body is required to brief the president on its findings within 60 days and provide a final report with recommendations no later than December 15, according to ODNI." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIntelligence director introduces group to review NSA privacy issues

There is no terrorist threat: The feds want you to think there is

"Nothing can be said for certain as to what prompted the State Department to close more than 20 embassies and consulates in the Middle East and North Africa last Sunday, and this is by design. But it is no excuse not to raise the possibility that Americans are eating a summer salad of nonsense served to justify objectionable surveillance practices now coming in for scrutiny. This prospect seems so self-evident that one feels almost silly raising it, except that so few have. Let us insert it into the conversation." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThere is no terrorist threat: The feds want you to think there is

Deputies suspended over violence while serving a $1,000 civil warrant at 1:13 AM

"The video shows a group of eight deputies entering Nantania Griffin’s home around 1:13 a.m. on July 26 to serve a civil warrant for failing to pay a $1,000 debt. Her sons secretly recorded the encounter on their phones and posted it online. Griffin and her family allegedly refused to let the deputies into the home for 30 minutes while telling them they had done nothing wrong. 'You acted like a 2-year-old, so we treated you like a 2-year-old,' one of the deputies can be heard saying in the video. Griffin’s son, Donovan Hall, told WSB that deputies kicked him in the head and that one hit him in the face with the butt of his gun." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDeputies suspended over violence while serving a $1,000 civil warrant at 1:13 AM

Bitcoin Goes to Washington

"The Committee understands that Bitcoins and other forms of peer-to-peer digital currency are a potential means for criminal, terrorist or other illegal organizations and individuals to illegally launder and transfer money. News reports indicate that Bitcoins may have been used to help finance the flight and activity of fugitives. The Committee directs the FBI to provide a briefing on the nature and scale of the risk posed by such ersatz currency, both in financing illegal enterprises and in undermining financial institutions. The briefing should describe the FBI efforts in the context of a coordinated Federal response to this challenge." Continue reading →

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Congress starts looking into Bitcoin

"The Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee on Monday sent letters to several agencies requesting that they disclose their virtual currency policies, how they developed them, how agencies are coordinating and finally what they plan to do going forward. Committee Chairman Tom Carper (D-Del.) and ranking member Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) sent letters Monday, which ask for information on a range of virtual currencies while naming Bitcoin as an example, to the Homeland Security Department, Justice Department, Federal Reserve, Treasury Department, Securities and Exchange Commission, CFTC, and OMB." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCongress starts looking into Bitcoin

The Police State Mindset in Our Public Schools

"Instead of making the schools safer, we simply managed to make them more authoritarian. It used to be that if you talked back to a teacher, or played a prank on a classmate, or just failed to do your homework, you might find yourself in detention or doing an extra writing assignment after school. Nowadays, students are not only punished for transgressions more minor than those—such as playing cops and robbers on the playground, bringing LEGOs to school, or having a food fight—but they are punished with suspension, expulsion, and even arrest. As a result, America is now on a fast track to raising up an Orwellian generation." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Police State Mindset in Our Public Schools

Disabled man plans to sue after being tased by officer on bus

"Hulett suffered neurological damage in 1991 after being hit by two trains, causing him to be handicapped. 'Because my back feels better standing up that sitting down...puts more pressure on two herniated disks,' Hulett said. When the driver asked him to sit down, he refused. Syracuse Police were called and officers ordered Hulett to get off of the bus. He again refused, saying he was doing nothing wrong. After approximately a minute of back-and-forth with police, the incident escalated and police deployed a taser. In the video, an officer appears to lift up Hulett’s shirt and then fires the taser. Hulett can be heard apparently howling in pain in the video." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDisabled man plans to sue after being tased by officer on bus