Land Of The Flea

NSA Rejecting Every FOIA Request Made by U.S. Citizens

"Seymour had decided to request his NSA file after coming across a recent post of mine instructing Americans on how to properly request such files from the FBI and NSA. A Navy vet and two-time Obama voter who supported the President’s platform of greater governmental transparency, Seymour was shocked by the letter he received. The letter, which first acknowledges the media coverage surrounding its surveillance systems, quickly moves to justify why none of that data can be obtained by an American citizen in a standard FOIA request. Dozens of citizens have emailed me to say they’ve received a similar, if not identical, letter." Continue reading →

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Obama Throwing Medical Marijuana Patients Into Federal Prison At Unprecedented Rate

"Fallout from the Obama Administration’s aggressive federal enforcement in medical marijuana states has reached a fever pitch this month with three people being sentenced, two others due to surrender to federal authorities to serve out sentences of up to five years in prison, and one federal trial in Montana currently scheduled for January 14th. Two of the three people being sentenced in the coming month face five and ten years to life, respectively. Far surpassing his predecessor George W. Bush, President Obama has conducted more than 200 SWAT-style raids on state-compliant medical marijuana businesses and has indicted more than 80 people since he took office." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama Throwing Medical Marijuana Patients Into Federal Prison At Unprecedented Rate

Angry Protesters Rally Over Dog Killed By Hawthorne Police

"[Note: The man who was being arrested in this video was not obstructing an investigation, he was video taping the police and they threw a false charge at him because they didn’t like it.] Demonstrators are out in front of the Hawthorne Police Department Saturday morning, protesting the shooting of a dog by one of their officers. A handful of people stood with signs, some bringing their own dogs, to express their displeasure with the killing of a dog last Sunday. The incident was caught on video and immediately went viral, with nearly four million views on YouTube." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAngry Protesters Rally Over Dog Killed By Hawthorne Police

Judge Finds Cop Not Guilty of Assault After Refusing to Watch Video of Assault

"A St. Louis cop is caught on video, slamming his forearm across the face of a handcuffed teenage suspect. However, when Bruce stepped in front of the judge to be tried this week, the judge refused to watch the video that came from a surveillance camera from the back of a police transport vehicle. As a result, Judge Theresa Counts Burke found him not guilty. But the head of the police union, Jeff Roorda, who is also a Missouri state representative, fully agreed with her decision not to view the video because he believes videos should only be used to protect police, not hold them accountable. Roorda is now going to help Bruce get his job back." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJudge Finds Cop Not Guilty of Assault After Refusing to Watch Video of Assault

Las Vegas Sands’ Sheldon Adelson ‘Morally Opposed’ to Online Betting

"Las Vegas Sands Corp. (LVS) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sheldon Adelson is 'morally opposed' to online gambling, calling it a 'toxin' that will rob the young and poor. Adelson, who controls the world’s biggest casino company by market value, also outlined his objections to online gambling in an opinion piece in Forbes yesterday. The Internet betting option is gaining momentum as U.S. states seek to tax a business forecast to generate billions of dollars. In February,New Jersey became the most-populous U.S. state to legalize online gambling, following Nevada and Delaware." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLas Vegas Sands’ Sheldon Adelson ‘Morally Opposed’ to Online Betting

“Why did you shoot me? I was reading a book”: The new warrior cop is out of control

"Sal Culosi is dead because he bet on a football game — but it wasn’t a bookie or a loan shark who killed him. His local government killed him, ostensibly to protect him from his gambling habit. Fairfax County, Virginia, detective David Baucum overheard the thirty-eight-year-old optometrist and some friends wagering on a college football game. Baucum befriended Culosi as a cover to begin investigating him. On the night of January 24, 2006, Baucum called Culosi and arranged a time to drop by to collect his winnings. When Culosi, barefoot and clad in a T-shirt and jeans, stepped out of his house to meet the man he thought was a friend, the SWAT team began to move in." Continue reading →

Continue Reading“Why did you shoot me? I was reading a book”: The new warrior cop is out of control

The Redcoats Had NOTHING on Today’s Local Police

"Dustin Theoharis of Auburn, Washington was asleep in a basement bedroom when he was shot 16 times by officers who had come to the home looking for someone else. He was not a criminal suspect and had no access to a weapon when the officers opened fire in the darkened bedroom. The assailants who shot Theoharis were Detective Aaron Thompson of the King County Sheriff’s Office and Corrections Officer Kris Rongen. The King County Prosecutor’s office ruled that the shooting by Deputy Aaron Thompson and Correctional Officer Kristopher Rongen was legally justified." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Redcoats Had NOTHING on Today’s Local Police

When Vice Enforcement is a Capital Crime

"Alexa Hamme of Salt Lake City was 25 years old when she died in a jail cell. She had been arrested four days earlier on suspicion of drug possession and endangerment of a child or adult. That last charge is a sentence enhancer often tacked on to a drug arrest as a way of escalating the potential penalties and extorting a guilty plea to a lesser charge. Using drugs is unwise and self-destructive. The same is true of other personal vices, as well. But government has no moral or legal mandate to punish people for indulging vices. Doing so is itself a crime – and as the tragic death of Alexa Hamme illustrates, it is frequently a capital offense." Continue reading →

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Bitcoin Trade Group Bites Back at California

"The Bitcoin Foundation is defending the virtual currency to California’s banking department, explaining bitcoin doesn’t qualify as a payment instrument under the state’s money-transmission rules. In a lengthy letter addressed to Tara Murphy, an assistant attorney general in the California Department of Financial Institutions, the Washington-based group also stuck up for itself, saying it doesn’t sell or exchange the virtual currency. California is known to be particularly aggressive in enforcing money-transmission rules. In the letter, the foundation made it clear that it doesn’t even operate in California." Continue reading →

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Western governments set to target tech giants over tax avoidance

"Western governments are set to target a range of tax loopholes used by technology giants including Apple, Amazon as part of an international drive to tackle corporate tax avoidance, a draft action plan seen by Reuters said. Corporate tax avoidance has become a hot political issue following public outrage over revelations in the past year that companies such as Apple and Google had used structures U.S. and European politicians said were designed to minimize the amount of taxes paid. As governments struggle with large deficits following the financial crisis, lawmakers have said enough is enough." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWestern governments set to target tech giants over tax avoidance