Police State

Doug Casey on Orwell’s Nightmare – the Darker Side of Modern Technology

"I'm an optimist on the future of technology. But the way a lot of it is going to be applied by people in government is a different question. The current developments are quite disturbing, especially the emerging capability of police to use cameras and computers to scan millions and millions of people and identify individuals in seconds. They say it's to track sex offenders or catch terrorists, but what's clearly at stake here is the universal monitoring of everyone all the time – just like in 1984. The bad news is that it's here now, and spreading around the world." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDoug Casey on Orwell’s Nightmare – the Darker Side of Modern Technology

Enhance Public Safety: Disarm the Police!

"The arrogance and irresponsibility displayed by law enforcement personnel in these cases – and thousands just like them – demonstrate beyond serious dispute that public safety would be enhanced if we were to disarm the police. Armed members of the productive class are busy earning the wealth plundered to pay the police; we shouldn’t be expected to track down the guns they allow to fall into the hands of private sector criminals." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEnhance Public Safety: Disarm the Police!

Supreme Court to decide whether police can take your blood without your permission

"'It comes down, basically, to are you going to see blood draws every single time someone gets pulled over for a DUI,' said Michael A. Correll, a litigator with the international law firm Alston & Bird, who examined the legality of blood draws in the West Virginia Law Review last year. Because drunk-driving stops are such an everyday occurrence, 'it's going to affect a broad area of society,' he told NBC News, adding: 'This may be the most widespread Fourth Amendment situation that you and I are going to face' for the foreseeable future." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSupreme Court to decide whether police can take your blood without your permission

Illinois Bill to Register Buyers of Gold and Silver Coins

"It had to come. It has been introduced in Illinois, the most anti-gun state in the USA. 'Creates the Precious Metal Purchasing Act. Provides that a person who is in the business of purchasing precious metal shall obtain a proof of ownership, create a record of the sale, and verify the identity of the seller. Provides that a person who is in the business of purchasing precious metal shall not pay for the precious metal in cash and shall >record the method of payment. Requires the purchaser to keep a record of the sale for one year or, if the purchase amount is over $500, for 5 years.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIllinois Bill to Register Buyers of Gold and Silver Coins

Passport Denials Long a Feature of U.S. Foreign Policy

"Neither national nor international law appears likely to stop the U.S. government’s concerted efforts to deny due process to those placed on the No-Fly List. While today’s mechanisms of travel control are far more sophisticated than those that Mrs. Shipley had at her disposal, the net effect is virtually identical: Both U.S. citizens and those wishing to visit the United States are denied a fundamental human right. Hopefully, you’ll never be placed on the No Fly List. But if you are, you’ll appreciate the utility of a second passport, 'just in case.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPassport Denials Long a Feature of U.S. Foreign Policy

Case Against Kim Dotcom Copyright Infringement Continues to Weaken

"This is the man US and Hollywood officials decided to make an example of. Interestingly, they were victims of the same persona that Dotcom has used successfully throughout his career. A man who so thoroughly advertised his affection for fast cars, large yachts, beautiful women and military video games was someone who surely could not be taken seriously. It was inconceivable to these intelligence agents and military men that someone as obviously undisciplined as Kim Dotcom would pose a 'hard target.' Surely he would fold immediately on feeling the boot upon his neck. And this misjudgment was only one of a series." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCase Against Kim Dotcom Copyright Infringement Continues to Weaken

Florida: Changing Car Color Does Not Justify Traffic Stop

"Courts in Florida are now split on the question of whether motorists should be subjected to stop and search simply because they repainted their car in a new color. Last year, the Fourth District Court of Appeal said yes, they should be stopped. On December 21, the First District Court of Appeal came to the opposite conclusion." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFlorida: Changing Car Color Does Not Justify Traffic Stop

Secret NSA cybersecurity program to protect power grid confirmed

"Newly released documents confirm that the National Security Agency (NSA), America's top cyberespionage organization, is spearheading a cloaked and controversial program to develop technology that could protect the US power grid from cyberattack. Of the 188 pages of documents released by the agency, roughly half were redacted to remove classified information. Even so, the documents show Perfect Citizen to be in the fourth year of a five-year program begun in 2009. Valued at up to $91 million, the Perfect Citizen technology is being developed by Raytheon, the Waltham, Mass., defense contractor that won it." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSecret NSA cybersecurity program to protect power grid confirmed

Flipping Off Police Officers Constitutional, Federal Court Affirms

"A police officer can't pull you over and arrest you just because you gave him the finger, a federal appeals court declared Thursday. In a 14-page opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit ruled that the 'ancient gesture of insult is not the basis for a reasonable suspicion of a traffic violation or impending criminal activity.' John Swartz and his wife Judy Mayton-Swartz had sued two police officers who arrested Swartz in May 2006 after he flipped off an officer who was using a radar device at an intersection in St. Johnsville, N.Y." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFlipping Off Police Officers Constitutional, Federal Court Affirms