Land Of The Flea

Illinois: Unconstitutional No-Taping-Cops Law Will Be Prosecuted on “Case by Case Basis”

"Morgan County State’s Attorney Robert Bonjean said Monday that he is not anticipating prosecuting an eavesdropping charge against Randy Newingham — at least not at this time. For the public at large, this does not mean that recording on-duty officers will never be prosecuted in Morgan County. 'We’ll review those reports and we’ll continue to monitor the decision from the 7th Circuit court,' Bonjean said. 'I don’t foresee myself making any blanket decision, just taking it on a case by case basis.' Newingham had his cellphone confiscated after he showed police a recording he had made of himself having a conversation with an on-duty officer on a golf cart." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIllinois: Unconstitutional No-Taping-Cops Law Will Be Prosecuted on “Case by Case Basis”

N.H. City Wants a “Tank” to Use Against Occupiers and Libertarians

"Police Chief John Duval now says that he doesn't actually believe the Free State Project or Occupy New Hampshire are domestic terror threats. 'I wish I would have worded things different in retrospect,' he says. 'I understand why their eyebrows are raised about that.' He says it was meant to refer to the 'unpredictable nature of unpredictable people who attach themselves to otherwise lawful situations.' Duval has no plans to issue a formal apology, but he has exchanged emails with Carla Gericke, president of the Free State Project, who is suing a police department for arresting her in 2011 for allegedly recording a police traffic stop." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingN.H. City Wants a “Tank” to Use Against Occupiers and Libertarians

Obama Denies Domestic Spying But He’s Wrong

"Obama on the Jay Leno show said 'We don’t have a domestic spying program.' He said 'What we do have are some mechanisms where we can track a phone number or an e-mail address that we know is connected to some sort of terrorist threat.' Obama is incorrect. The XKeyscore program of the NSA spies on everyone. 'A top secret National Security Agency program allows analysts to search with no prior authorization through vast databases containing emails, online chats and the browsing histories of millions of individuals, according to documents provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden.' It’s not the only program of the government." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama Denies Domestic Spying But He’s Wrong

Obama: ‘We don’t have a domestic spying program’

"Obama said the programs were critical to counterterrorism work. But he said more needed to be done to assure Americans they were not being spied on themselves. 'We don’t have a domestic spying program,' he said. 'What we do have are some mechanisms where we can track a phone number or an email address that we know is connected to some sort of terrorist threat.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama: ‘We don’t have a domestic spying program’

Immigration Reform — The Time for Free Trade

"During the 19th century, tariffs and other barriers restricted international trade in goods and services. However, for the most part, labor was free to enter or leave the United States. Following World War I, the federal government enacted a series of laws restricting immigration. The interwar years also witnessed significant restrictions on trade in goods and services. Market forces are necessary to coordinate the international labor market as well. Increasing the number of H-1B visa's or temporary work permits is a small step in the right direction but governments can no better plan the international labor market than the Soviets could plan their markets." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingImmigration Reform — The Time for Free Trade

Think Government Is Intrusive Now? Wait Until E-Verify Kicks In

"If this part of the bill passes, all employers will be forced to use the government-run, Web-based system that checks potential employees' immigration status. That means, every American will have to obtain the federal government's prior approval in order to earn a living. E-Verify might seem harmless now, but missions always creep and bureaucracies expand. Surely we should link E-Verify to the criminal records of pedophiles? And why not all criminal records? We don't want alcoholic airline pilots, disbarred doctors, fraudster bankers and so on. E-Verify will be attractive as a way to enforce hundreds of other employment laws and regulations." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThink Government Is Intrusive Now? Wait Until E-Verify Kicks In

Former LA County GOP chief arrested for sexting after mocking Weiner’s candidacy

"The former executive director of the Republican Party of Los Angeles County was arrested last Friday for allegedly sexting with a 16-year-old girl. The girl told officers that Scott Hounsell, 30, had engaged in sexually explicit chats with her via a social media website. Police did not say what social media website was used. Hounsell was arrested by the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. He was released on $40,000 bail Friday afternoon. Firedoglake noted that Hounsell had mocked New York City mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner on his personal Twitter account." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFormer LA County GOP chief arrested for sexting after mocking Weiner’s candidacy

Creepy: The State of California Pokes My Cell Phone

"Some cellphones received only a text message, others buzzed and beeped. Some people got more than one alert. It’s the Wireless Emergency Alert program, a cellphone version of the Emergency Alert System on your television. Cellphone owners receive messages automatically, based on their proximity to the emergency, not based on their phone number. 'If you’re from Texas and that’s where your phone number is based and you’re traveling in California at the time of the Amber Alert, you’ll receive the text message about the Amber Alert in California on your Texas-based phone,' said CHP spokeswoman Fran Clader." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCreepy: The State of California Pokes My Cell Phone

The Best Mob Story Ever

"The best mob story ever told does not involve Al Capone or Bugsy Segal or John Gotti. It involves a mobster few American have ever heard of, Greg Scarpa by name, and his not quite as lethal son, Greg Scarpa Jr., 'Junior' going forward. One reason few people ever heard of Scarpa is that until his arrest in September 1992, he worked as a 'Top Echelon Confidential Informant' under the protection of the FBI for the most of the thirty years prior. During that time, Scarpa murdered at least fifty people. Understandably, this is not a story not that the FBI wants told, but author Peter Lance has told it anyhow in his stunningly comprehensive new book, Deal With The Devil." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Best Mob Story Ever

Feds Visited Michael Hastings’ House Day Before His Death: Close Friend

"Rolling Stone journalist Michael Hastings, who was killed in a suspicious car crash after complaining that he was being harassed by the FBI, had his home visited by agents from an unnamed federal agency the day before his death, a close friend of Hastings told Infowars. The fact that feds visited the home of the controversial journalist almost immediately prior to his untimely death is yet another facet to a story which has thrown up numerous questions about the circumstances surrounding the car crash that killed Hastings in the Hancock Park neighborhood of Los Angeles on June 18." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFeds Visited Michael Hastings’ House Day Before His Death: Close Friend