Land Of The Flea

Police in Springfield, Mass. adopt Iraq-style ‘counterinsurgency’ tactics

"Police in Springfield, Massachusetts have adopted Iraq-style 'counterinsurgency' tactics and are applying them to gang busting with amazing results. U.S. counterinsurgency strategy in Iraq focused on keeping militants at bay while creating stable space for a community to come together and begin resolving issues that create violence. To officer Mike Katone, freshly home from a war zone and working for the Springfield police force, that strategy made more and more sense the longer he looked at his city’s gang problems." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPolice in Springfield, Mass. adopt Iraq-style ‘counterinsurgency’ tactics

NYPD Police Sergeant Calls For Crackdown On Social Media Dissent

"Using a zero tolerance approach to track domestic terrorists online is the only reasonable way to analyze online threats these days, especially after the Boston Marathon bombing and news that the suspects had subsequently planned to target Times Square in Manhattan, Mullins says. The way law enforcement agencies approach online activity that appears sinister is this: 'If you’re not a terrorist, if you’re not a threat, prove it,' he says. 'This is the price you pay to live in free society right now. It’s just the way it is,' Mullins adds. That method can result in arrests of teenagers whose online activity may be more aptly characterized as stupid pranks." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNYPD Police Sergeant Calls For Crackdown On Social Media Dissent

Texas teen points to heavens, gets 4×100 relay squad banned from state championships

"The anchor of that 4x100 squad was junior Derrick Hayes, who ran a particularly blazing split and celebrated the team’s state qualification with a simple finger point to the heavens. The gesture is a common one in sports, but on this occasion, it was deemed to have run afoul of a University Interscholastic League (UIL) regulation barring excessive celebration. Once officials at the Columbus meet determined that Hayes had violated the excessive celebration rules, the entire 4x100-meter squad was disqualified and effectively barred from the state championships." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTexas teen points to heavens, gets 4×100 relay squad banned from state championships

Living in U.S. raises risk of allergies

"Children born outside the United States have a lower risk of asthma, skin and food allergies, and living in the United States for a decade or more may raise the risk of some allergies, said a study Monday. The research in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that certain environmental exposures could trigger allergies later in life, overcoming the protective effects of microbial exposure in childhood. The study examined records from 2007-2008 phone surveys of nearly 92,000 people in the United States, where food and skin allergies have been on the rise in recent years." Continue reading →

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China hits back with report on U.S. human rights record

"China on Sunday retorted the U.S. criticism and distortions of its human rights situation by publishing a report of the U.S. human rights record. The Human Rights Record of the United States in 2012 was released by the Information Office of China's State Council, or the Cabinet, in response to the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2012 issued by the U.S. State Department. China in the report argued that there are serious human rights problems in the U.S. which incur extensive criticism in the world, as it has posed as 'the world judge of human rights' again." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChina hits back with report on U.S. human rights record

Overcharge: 29 States Mandate High-Cost “Green” Power Generation

"Of the 50 states in the United States, 29 of them have state laws mandating renewable energy programs for local power generation plants. The trouble is, these alternative fuels are expensive. Natural gas costs have fallen by 70% since 2005. Fracking has made the difference. New supplies have lowered natural gas prices. This means that the 29 states are prohibited from buying low-cost, clean-burning natural gas. This raises the cost of electricity. In only 16 of these states have state legislators begun to discuss the possibility that these laws are economically foolish." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOvercharge: 29 States Mandate High-Cost “Green” Power Generation

U.S. gives big, secret push to Internet surveillance

"Senior Obama administration officials have secretly authorized the interception of communications carried on portions of networks operated by AT&T and other Internet service providers, a practice that might otherwise be illegal under federal wiretapping laws. The secret legal authorization from the Justice Department originally applied to a cybersecurity pilot project in which the military monitored defense contractors' Internet links. Since then, however, the program has been expanded by President Obama to cover all critical infrastructure sectors including energy, healthcare, and finance starting June 12." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. gives big, secret push to Internet surveillance

Andrew P. Napolitano: More Holes in the Fourth Amendment

"The Obama administration wants legislation enacted that will punish Internet service providers who fail to cooperate with FBI requests and court orders. The FBI has revealed that its agents often 'lack the time' to obtain search warrants, and so they have gotten into the bad habit of asking Internet service providers to let them in without warrants. The second category of punishment sought by the administration is for Internet service providers as to which the FBI has obtained a warrant. A search warrant does not require the custodian of those specific items to find them for the government. This proposed legislation would change all that." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAndrew P. Napolitano: More Holes in the Fourth Amendment

Oregon Teachers Traumatized by Unannounced Shooter Drill

"Panic erupted on Friday at Pine Eagle Charter school in rural Oregon when two masked men carrying handguns burst into a teachers’ lounge and opened fire. After the initial chaos, the terrified teachers realized the guns were firing blanks and that they were the subject of an unannounced shooter drill. The little school in Halfway, Oregon was having an in-service day, so the children were at home at the time of the drill. The terrifying action has drawn criticism from many but Principal Cammie DeCastro has defended it, saying, 'For us not to know how we were going to respond is leaving us open'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOregon Teachers Traumatized by Unannounced Shooter Drill

Sheriff Bradshaw and the Palm Beach County Psihuska

"Although they were dealing with a sickly, unarmed homeless man who was not a criminal suspect, the Berserkers treated the incident as a combat situation. As they approached the encampment, Gaydos – who was holding his cell phone – stood up. Without a word of warning, he was shot twice in the head with rubber bullets. The first round damaged an ear; the second one destroyed his left eye. The assailants later tried to justify the head shots by claiming that they had seen a knife in Gaydos’s hand – but since no knife was ever recovered, this can be dismissed as a self-serving lie of the kind routinely offered by police officers after they kill or mutilate an innocent person." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSheriff Bradshaw and the Palm Beach County Psihuska