1. Action Item from activist Melanie Kurdys The House will likely vote this week on the state Department of Education’s budget. Please call/email/fax ASAP and inform your Rep to: STOP ALL funding for Common Core’s implementation in Michigan’s Department of Education budget. Last week, Melanie was invited to a debate about common core in Grand …
"What these people are saying: Federal law must assume that every inch of continental U.S. soil is a battlefield in which the rules of battle apply and that due process of law goes out the window. A permanent battlefield is not a place where people can enjoy any freedoms at all except for those temporary refuges that come about when government lifts an order for a short time. As for anything like a free economy, forget it. A nation under permanent martial law -- and that is what the WSJ really is advocating -- is a nation of drones serving a governmental master." Continue reading →
"It has been a very busy week for news stations. Between the Boston bombing and the Ricin laced letters sent to members of Congress and the White House, it might be easy to miss a bill moving forward in the U.S. Senate. One that would mean every product you buy online will more expensive. Senators say this bill is about ‘fairness’, but is it?" Continue reading →
"'Apple iMessage users should be aware that regardless of what they heard last week, their messages can be easily obtained by law enforcement pursuant to a warrant under the Electronic Communication Act [ECPA],' said Alan Butler, an in-house attorney with the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). 'Even though the messages are encrypted by the phone company as they are sent by iMessage, Apple can decrypt messages and hand them over to law enforcement with a warrant!'" Continue reading →
"On April 19, 2013, during a manhunt for a bombing suspect, police and federal agents spent the day storming people's homes and performing illegal searches. While it was unclear initially if the home searches were voluntary, it is now crystal clear that they were absolutely NOT voluntary. Police were filmed ripping people from their homes at gunpoint, marching the residents out with their hands raised in submission, and then storming the homes to perform their illegal searches. This was part of a larger operation that involved total lockdown of the suburban neighbor to Boston." Continue reading →
"During the occupation of Boston it was widely reported that the bombing suspects had robbed a 7/11. That turned out to be false. The robbery was perpetrated by others. That's right; with a massive police state presence, criminals were undeterred. But how convenient for officials to let the story float for nearly a day? It's looking like that is not the only whopper coming from officials (shocking, I know). Police Chief Wiggum's story about the 'shootout' in the early hours of Friday morning is completely contradicted by an eye-witness. She says the cops ran over the older brother, and then, in what seemed to be retaliation, filled him full of lead." Continue reading →
"'It’s probable that robotics becomes a significant component of nation state warfare,' he said. 'I’m not going to pass judgment on whether armies should exist, but I would prefer to not spread and democratise the ability to fight war to every single human being. 'It’s got to be regulated. You just can’t imagine that British people would allow this sort of thing, and I can’t imagine American people would allow this sort of thing. It’s one thing for governments, who have some legitimacy in what they’re doing, but have other people doing it … It’s not going to happen.'" Continue reading →
"'It is indisputable that the United States engaged in the practice of torture.' This damning statement derives directly from a report released by The Constitution Project who, along with former members of Congress, drew up this most comprehensive independent study to date of US torture in Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo, and secret CIA black sites around the world. The two-year study only looked at public documents, as well as interviews with interrogators and others involved in the counterterrorism program. However, classified information was not accessible to the non-governmental organization." Continue reading →
"In what looked more like an post-game celebration following a Boston Celtics NBA championship, or a Red Sox World Series victory - major media reported the communal outpouring of national pride where resident could be seen with painted faces, brandishing American flags, and heard shouting 'USA, USA'. How did Friday become such a huge ‘patriotic moment’ for the people of Boston? Was this some kind of victory for America? ‘The Situation Room', in typical Hollywood fashion, informed the people of New England that they 'owed a debt of gratitude to federal and local law enforcement officers and officials'." Continue reading →
"Rep. Peter King, the Chair of the House subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence and the mastermind behind hearings on the radicalization of Muslim-Americans, argued Friday that in the wake of the Boston bombings, law enforcement should increase surveillance in Muslim communities. 'We can’t be bound by political correctness,' he continued. 'I think we need more police and more surveillance in the communities where the threat is coming from, whether it’s the Irish community with the Westies [an Irish-American gang in New York City], or the Italian community with the mafia, or the Muslim community with the Islamic terrorists.'" Continue reading →