Orwellian

537 Taser-Related Deaths In The United States Since 2001

"Between 2001 and 2008, 351 people in the United States died after being shocked by police Tasers. Our blog has documented another 186 taser-related deaths in the United States in 2009-2012. That means there have been 537 documented taser-related deaths in America. I think that something is wrong in America when the police electrocute folks on a WEEKLY basis with their taser arsenal … and the public is mute in its response. Sometimes it takes a lawsuit … like the one recently settled in Ohio … to get the police to cool it. The police in Cincinnati, Ohio took the hint … they changed their taser policy!" Continue reading →

Continue Reading537 Taser-Related Deaths In The United States Since 2001

David Lewis attorney says gun confiscation no “error”

"All of this apparently stems from Governor Cuomo’s signature gun control bill, the SAFE Act, which requires mental health professionals to notify the state when they believe a patient is at risk of hurting themselves or others. State Police and the Erie County Clerk had misidentified Lewis as such a threat, confusing him with someone else with the same name. Both sides have blamed each other for the snafu. It’s not sitting well with some State Senator Michael Ranzenhofer (R-Amherst) and State Assemblyman Dennis Gabryszak (D-Cheektowaga). They are calling for an investigation of how the police are using medical records to seize guns." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDavid Lewis attorney says gun confiscation no “error”

Destroying the middle ground

"Imagine yourself in an alternate United States where the First Amendment is not as a matter of settled law considered to bar Federal and State governments from almost all interference in free speech. In this alternate America, there are many and bitter arguments about the extent of free-speech rights. The ground of dispute is to what extent the instruments of political and cultural speech (printing presses, radios, telephones, copying machines, computers) should be regulated by government so that use of these instruments does not promote violence, assist criminal enterprises, and disrupt public order." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDestroying the middle ground

Maryland ‘rain tax’ to be enforced through satellite surveillance?

"The tax, officially known as a 'storm water management fee,' will be enforced in nine of the state's counties. Former 2012 GOP U.S. Senate candidate Dan Bongino bashes the tax in a Wednesday afternoon press release. The law 'requires individuals, businesses, and even charitable organizations and houses of worship to pay a tax based on the amount of rain that falls on their property and the 'impervious surfaces' on their land,' he says. The tax, mandated by the EPA and enforced locally, will be calculated 'through satellite surveillance of your property,' the statement claims." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMaryland ‘rain tax’ to be enforced through satellite surveillance?

Florida Police use Driver License Faceprints to Investigate Public At Large

"In Florida, the police are using facial biometrics gathered and stored by the DMV for Real ID with facial recognition technology to identify and investigate individuals in public, at will. Presumption of innocence? Probable cause? Not necessary when everyone is a suspect. We are just at the edge of an onslaught of similar stories that whether revealed or not are rooted in Real ID. You and I have the dubious honor of being located in the slice of our generation that is going to gain a deep understanding of the value of our privacy. We will learn because we are the ones who once, having the luxury of relative obscurity, are watching it slip away." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFlorida Police use Driver License Faceprints to Investigate Public At Large

San Diego County plans to forcibly medicate residents under Laura’s Law

"San Diego County in California is considering implementing Laura's Law, which would give the state's second most populous county - home to over three million people - the uncontested right to force psychiatric medication upon its residents. Funds for the forced inpatient or outpatient psychiatric incarceration, known as 'assisted outpatient treatment' are to be provided by taxpayers. Other bills under consideration would extend Laura's Law to schoolchildren, at the discretion of school administrators. Laura's Law is heavily supported by law enforcement, the press, the American Psychiatric Association and host of 'consumer and family advocate groups.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSan Diego County plans to forcibly medicate residents under Laura’s Law

New Book on EU Corruption Gets Author Investigated

"No, I am not making this up. My memoirs A Mote in Brussels' Eye describing my five years in the Brussels lunatic asylum came out as an eBook at the end of January. Today, March 5, nine policemen arrived unannounced at my front door armed with a warrant to search our home. Much of my book details my efforts on behalf of the taxpayers of SE England to expose the gross misuse of public funds by the EU, and hold them accountable. Such an unusually fast reaction by Brussels tells me they are both very angry and terrified. My book is obviously causing them trouble." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew Book on EU Corruption Gets Author Investigated

Can Police Read Text Messages Without A Warrant?

"In this case, police seized a cell phone during a drug investigation and monitored incoming messages. Officers responded to several texts, setting up meetings that resulted in two arrests, without first getting a warrant. Prosecutors have argued that no warrant was required because there should be no expectation of privacy in text messages, as anyone can pick up someone else’s phone and read what’s stored there. But in two related amicus briefs filed Monday, EFF argues that searching the phone for the texts without a warrant clearly violates the Constitution." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCan Police Read Text Messages Without A Warrant?

Scientists create ‘superbrain’ by connecting thoughts of two rats

"Scientists on Thursday said they had enabled a rat to help a fellow rodent while the animals were a continent apart but connected through brain electrodes. With electrodes imbedded in its cortex, a rat in a research institute in Natal, Brazil sent signals via the Internet to a counterpart at a university lab in Durham, North Carolina, helping the second animal to get a reward. The exploit opens up the prospect of linking brains among animals to create an 'organic computer,' said Brazilian neurobiologist Miguel Nicolelis. It also helps the quest to empower patients stricken with paralysis or locked-in syndrome, he said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingScientists create ‘superbrain’ by connecting thoughts of two rats

FBI Trying to Infiltrate Keene, New Hampshire

"Apparently the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been trying very, very hard to infiltrate the KAC, judging from this account of the arrest of one of the club’s members, Rich Paul, on marijuana charges. Paul is going on trial for petty marijuana distribution offenses pursuant to testimony by an undercover FBI informant. It looks as if the trial is on state charges, but what’s interesting and disturbing is the interest the federal government has taken in the case. FBI agent Phillip Christiana apparently tried to pressure Paul into wearing a wire into the KAC and luring people into pot transactions, offering him immunity from prosecution in exchange." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFBI Trying to Infiltrate Keene, New Hampshire