Land Of The Flea

Smearing Glenn Greenwald: The Gregorian Connection

"The campaign to demonize Edward Snowden, whose revelations about the National Security Agency’s ubiquitous and ongoing spying on the American public has the Obama regimein furious disrray, has taken on a new dimension – now they’re going after Glenn Greenwald, the Guardian reporter and columnist Snowden chose to tell his story. Glenn has alreadypreempted some of this in his Guardian column, but there is sure to be more. What’s interesting about this effort is that it tells us far more about the smear-merchants – and who they serve – than it does about Greenwald." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSmearing Glenn Greenwald: The Gregorian Connection

Former East German secret police captain says NSA spying ‘a dream come true’

"A former agent of the Stasi, the much-feared East German communist secret police, has said that the recently revealed NSA spying program would have been his agency’s 'dream come true' because it has collected 'so much information, on so many people.' Wolfgang Schmidt, 78, said in an interview that it is 'the height of naivete' to think that the information will never be used against U.S. citizens. As a lieutenant colonel in the Stasi, he said that technology limited the secret police’s ability to satisfy its voracious appetite for information. Their listening devices, he said, could only spy on 40 telephone lines at once. Targets had to be prioritized." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFormer East German secret police captain says NSA spying ‘a dream come true’

One Dead After Charlotte Police Stage Drug Sting on Elementary School Grounds

"An undercover drug sting in the parking lot of a Charlotte, North Carolina, elementary school ended up with one person killed and one person wounded, and a community wondering why police chose that particular location for their operation. Police set up a marijuana buy between an undercover police officer, an informant, and two teenagers last Tuesday afternoon. Police said that during the drug deal, Walker pulled a gun and shot the informant in the shoulder in an attempt to rob him. The undercover police officer then shot Walker in the head, killing him. The teen who accompanied Walker fled, but was arrested later." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOne Dead After Charlotte Police Stage Drug Sting on Elementary School Grounds

Texas teen charged with making terroristic threat after online joke

"'LOL' stands for 'laughing out loud,' and 'jk' means 'just kidding,' but police didn’t think it was funny. Neither did a woman from Canada who saw the posting. Justin’s dad says the woman did a Google search and found his son’s old address was near an elementary school and she called police. Justin Carter was arrested the next month and has been jailed since March 27. He’s charged with making a terroristic threat and is facing eight years in prison, according to his dad. 'These people are serious. They really want my son to go away to jail for a sarcastic comment that he made,' added Carter." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTexas teen charged with making terroristic threat after online joke

Ecuador’s Correa rips into Snowden coverage; U.S. threatens trade sanctions

"US officials are mounting pressure on Ecuador over its stance in the leaker debacle. Senator Robert Menendez, who heads the Foreign Relations Committee in the Senate, said such a move would hurt Ecuador’s international trade, which is highly dependent on export to the US. Menendez said he would lead the effort to prevent the renewal of Ecuador's duty-free access to US markets under the Generalized System of Preferences program. He also said he would block renewal of the Andean Trade Promotion and Drug Eradication Act (ATPDEA). Both programs expire at the end of next month." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEcuador’s Correa rips into Snowden coverage; U.S. threatens trade sanctions

NSA collected US email records in bulk for more than two years under Obama

"The Obama administration for more than two years permitted the National Security Agency to continue collecting vast amounts of records detailing the email and internet usage of Americans, according to secret documents obtained by the Guardian. The documents indicate that under the program, launched in 2001, a federal judge sitting on the secret surveillance panel called the Fisa court would approve a bulk collection order for internet metadata 'every 90 days'. The collection of these records began under the Bush administration's wide-ranging warrantless surveillance program, collectively known by the NSA codename Stellar Wind." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNSA collected US email records in bulk for more than two years under Obama

Civil Forfeiture Of Cash: It Could Happen To You

"Owners of property subject to civil forfeiture find themselves in an Alice-in-Wonderland legal landscape where the property seized is accused of a crime, rather than the owner. The owners must follow obscure rules that originate in Admiralty law, with which most attorneys aren’t familiar. Fortunately, you can reduce the likelihood that law enforcement agencies will try to confiscate your cash. The most important precaution is to insure the cash you hold contains no narcotics residues. If you insist on withdrawing new bank-wrapped bills from your bank account, the likelihood of contamination drops considerably. Also, keep a bank withdrawal slip with the cash." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCivil Forfeiture Of Cash: It Could Happen To You

New York immigration judge halts deportation of married gay man

"A New York immigration judge halted the deportation of an American citizen’s Colombian husband on Wednesday just moments after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the Defense of Marriage Act, according to an activist group aiding the couple’s legal defense. Brooks’ husband Steven came to the U.S. with his family as a child, and after the two married in New York state Brooks filed a green card petition to help Steven become a permanent resident on the path to citizenship. That green card petition caused a problem with his visa status and suddenly, Steven was facing deportation. Appeal was denied on the grounds that federal law did not recognize their marriage." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew York immigration judge halts deportation of married gay man

Congratulations to Gay Americans Who Are Now Eligible for the Tax Code’s Marriage Penalty

"The CBO estimated that gay marriage in all 50 states would increase tax receipts by about $400 million a year if the George W. Bush tax cuts were extended and by about $700 million a year if they were not. Because those tax cuts ended up being mostly extended, the answer is probably somewhere in the middle, but closer to $400 million. The added revenue comes from the 'marriage penalty': Two-earner married couples where each spouse has a similar income tend to be taxed more heavily than they would be if both partners were single." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCongratulations to Gay Americans Who Are Now Eligible for the Tax Code’s Marriage Penalty