Land Of The Flea

German president, contra chancellor Merkel, says whistleblowers like Snowden merit respect

"Germany's president, who helped expose the workings of East Germany's dreaded Stasi secret police, said whistleblowers like U.S. fugitive Edward Snowden deserved respect for defending freedom. Weighing in on a debate that could influence September's federal election, President Joachim Gauck struck a very different tone from that of Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has assured Washington that Berlin would not shelter Snowden. Gauck, who has little power but great moral authority, said people who work for the state were entitled to act according to their conscience, as institutions sometimes depart from the law." Continue reading →

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The Heartbreaking Story Of A Harmless Deadhead Sentenced To Die In Prison

"Timothy Tyler was 25 when he was sentenced to die in prison. Tyler, a Grateful Dead fan with no history of violence, got life without the possibility of parole for selling LSD to a police informant. He'd never gone to prison before. But a judge was forced to give him life because of two prior drug convictions — even though both those convictions resulted in probation. At 45, Tyler has been in prison for more than 20 years and will likely spend the rest of his life there. He got the same life sentence as rapist and kidnapper Ariel Castro because of federal mandatory minimum sententence guidelines." Continue reading →

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Auditor Urges Safeguards as USDA Pays 6,336 Dead People

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture may have improperly paid as much as $36 million in aid to 6,336 dead people, according to government auditors who recommended stronger safeguards. Random sampling of USDA’s program rolls with the Social Security Administration’s master list of dead individuals found that 6,336 people got conservation aid, crop-insurance subsidies or disaster assistance more than one year after they had died from 2008 through 2012, the Government Accounting Office said today in a report. Payments to the dead 'may call into question whether these farm safety net programs are benefiting the agricultural sector as intended.'" Continue reading →

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Increasing use of costly military-style equipment by NH law enforcement questioned

"Concord is poised to accept $258,000 in federal funding to buy an armored vehicle that police say would provide protection during a terrorist attack, riot or shooting incident. In its grant application to DHS, the police department said New Hampshire's experience with terrorism 'slants primarily towards the domestic type,' and said 'the threat is real and here.' 'Groups such as the Sovereign Citizens, Free Staters and Occupy New Hampshire are active and present daily challenges,' the application stated. In addition to organized groups, it cited 'several homegrown clusters that are anti-government and pose problems for law enforcement agencies.'" Continue reading →

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How the Military Industrial Complex Targeted the Amash Amendment

"The NSA gave members of Congress private scare briefings. Former Attorney Generals and past 'spook agency' leaders signed an open letter of opposition. The Wall Street Journal attacked Amash as 'unqualified' to introduce such a bill. The Democratic Whip's office even suggested that the Amash amendment '...pertain[s] to persons who may be in communication with terrorist groups...' But the absolute worst tactic came from the House Republican leadership. They offered an amendment that would supposedly protect Americans from the PRISM system. Sounds good right? Well... It was a fraud designed to peel away support from Amash." Continue reading →

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New Hampshire Town Sues Over Meter Feeding

"A group of residents in Keene, New Hampshire thought the city was gaining a bad reputation for its predatory parking meter enforcement and decided to do something about it. The organized an effort to regularly feed coins into the meters so that other residents and visitors could avoid having an expensive ticket slapped on their windshield. Instead, they receive a card telling them that Robin Hood and the Merry Men have 'saved you from the king's tariff.' As a reward for their generosity, the city is suing the Robin Hooders for civil conspiracy to interfere with a contract. A hearing on the case is scheduled for August 12." Continue reading →

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Bitcoin industry leaders launch DATA, a self-regulatory body for digital currencies

"The Committee for the Establishment of the Digital Asset Transfer Authority will 'work proactively with regulators and policymakers to adapt their requirements to our technologies and business models,' said the new group, in an announcement earlier today. The list of backers is a Who’s Who of players in bitcoin. Tony Gallipi, CEO of payment processor BitPay, Chris Larsen, CEO of Ripple and founder of OpenCoin, and Patrick Murck, general counsel for the Bitcoin Foundation, are on board. TradeHill CEO Jered Kenna, who has been negotiating licenses with individual states for his high-net worth bitcoin exchange, is also a member." Continue reading →

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Don’t Let Bitcoin Morph into Govcoin

"Recently, Govcoin has become a metaphor for alterations to the core bitcoin protocol that reduce its fungibility, irreversibility or privacy to conform to certain government specifications for an 'appropriate' digital currency. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has not yet confirmed to what extent the implementation of Regulation E by money transmitters will be applicable to licensed virtual currency providers. Also known as the Remittance Transfer Rule, compliance will be required by Oct. 28. It requires, among other items, prepayment disclosure, transaction receipts, and transaction cancellation within prescribed time limits." Continue reading →

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