Orwellian

Germany and France Demand to Know Why They Were Being Spied On

"Members of the European Union are quite upset because their relationship with the U.S. is supposed cozier than the frosty relationship between the U.S. and Russia. Germany and France seem really miffed over this whole spying deal. They thought they were exempt from surveillance because they are allies at the end of the day. 'These facts, if confirmed, would be totally unacceptable,' Minister of Foreign Affairs Laurent Fabius told Le Monde. 'We expect the U.S. authorities to stand up as soon as possible the legitimate concerns raised by the revelations of the press.' German politicians are also demanding an explanation from the U.S." Continue reading →

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Another Black Man up on “Terrorist” Charges

"Michael C. Lewis, 25, is charged with discharging a firearm into a car and building. The result? He's charged with 'one count of going armed with intent and two counts of terrorism.' People sometimes go off, sometimes they commit crimes, sometimes they are career criminals, sometimes not. Justice requires making distinctions. But in no case should people be thrown into prison for 10 years or 20 years or 50 years, the possible terrorism penalty in this case, as a terrorism 'add-on' to all the other possible conventional crimes. Terrorism statutes with such penalties applied in such lax ways are in and of themselves cruel and unusual punishment." Continue reading →

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The Obamacare Problem Isn’t Messaging, It’s Statism

"The Obama administration and its health-law allies are gearing up this summer to slice through three years of confusion and opposition to Obamacare. They’ve got their work cut out for them. Obamacare won’t have a shot at success unless millions of people sign up for insurance — the healthy as well as the sick. …Organizing for Action, spun off from Obama’s campaign operation, went up with a seven-figure TV ad buy in June, touting the new benefits and promising to offer 'the truth' about the law. Enroll America, a nonprofit group with ties to the White House, wants to leverage the grass roots across the country and engage big-name celebrities for the cause." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Obamacare Problem Isn’t Messaging, It’s Statism

NFL Rejects Obama Administration: We Won’t Promote Obamacare

"NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy emailed the Washington Examiner's Philip Klein to say the NFL had no plans to help promote Obamacare: 'We have responded to the letters we received from members of Congress to inform them we currently have no plans to engage in this area and have had no substantive contact with the administration about PPACA’s implementation.' Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius had said this week the Obama administration was looking to partner with professional sports leagues to market Obamacare exchanges this fall to sell the unpopular healthcare law to the public." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNFL Rejects Obama Administration: We Won’t Promote Obamacare

Teens urged to promote ObamaCare to parents under California grant

"The Los Angeles school system reportedly plans to use a state grant to promote ObamaCare, in part by teaching students to become 'messengers' for the law. The Heartland Institute first reported on the grant, one of $37 million in state grants announced in May by Covered California, the state’s health insurance exchange. Of that, $990,000 was awarded to The Los Angeles Unified School District. A brief synopsis of the grant says it would be used for 'outreach calls' to families and 'adult-student class presentations.' But it also states as an objective: 'Teens trained to be messengers to family members.'" Continue reading →

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Ron Paul: If You Like The Surveillance State, You’ll Love E-Verify

"The mandatory E-Verify system requires Americans to carry a 'tamper-proof' social security card. Before they can legally begin a job, American citizens will have to show the card to their prospective employer, who will then have to verify their identity and eligibility to hold a job in the US by running the information through the newly-created federal E-Verify database. The database will contain photographs taken from passport files and state driver’s licenses. The law gives federal bureaucrats broad discretion in adding other 'biometric' identifiers to the database and broad authority to determine what features the 'tamper proof' card should contain." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRon Paul: If You Like The Surveillance State, You’ll Love E-Verify

Electronic Updatable License Plates Could Flash “STOLEN” Or “UNINSURED”

"A small company in South Carolina is attempting to introduce electronic license plate's for the state's cars and trucks. The plates are fairly simple: an electrophoretic display that can display certain bold words when necessary, like 'STOLEN' or 'UNINSURED.' The benefits of an electronic license plate are interesting. If a driver is doing something wrong, something other drivers should know about, the DMV can beam a sort of scarlet letter message to the license plate over an included wireless connection, like your smartphone has. But there are a few issues; for one, who knows how secure this system is?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingElectronic Updatable License Plates Could Flash “STOLEN” Or “UNINSURED”

Kerry downplays new reports of NSA spying on allies

"Nearly all national governments, not just the United States, use 'lots of activities' to safeguard their interests and security, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Monday, responding for the first time to allegations that Washington spied on the European Union and other allies. The EU has strongly demanded that the United States explain a report in a German magazine that Washington is spying on the group, saying that, if true, the alleged surveillance was 'shocking'. The Guardian newspaper said that the United States had also targeted non-European allies including Japan, South Korea and India." Continue reading →

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Kerry: Snowden’s actions ‘despicable’

“Traveling in India, Secretary of State John Kerry spoke with NBC’s Catherine Chomiak.   Kerry said Edward Snowden’s actions are ‘beyond description’ and said he hopes Snowden is apprehended and faces the full weight of the U.S. legal system.” http://www.nbcnews.com/video/nightly-news/52300721

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Around the Bay Area, you’re being watched

"It's not just the National Security Agency secretly vacuuming up your personal data. Local police agencies are increasingly adopting Big Data technologies such as automatic license-plate readers that gather information about everyone, whether they've broken the law or not. A lot of the information ends up on the 14th floor of a federal office building in San Francisco, where a 'fusion center' run by state and local law enforcement agencies combines the data with a plethora of personal information about you, from credit reports to car rentals to unlisted phone numbers to gun licenses." Continue reading →

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