sound money

Two-Track Corporate Justice Is Not the American Way

"State and federal authorities decided against indicting HSBC in a money-laundering case over concerns that criminal charges could jeopardize one of the world's largest banks and ultimately destabilize the global financial system. Instead, HSBC announced on Tuesday that it had agreed to a record $1.92 billion settlement with authorities. The bank faces accusations that it transferred billions of dollars for nations like Iran and enabled Mexican drug cartels to move money illegally through its American subsidiaries. The case raises questions about whether certain financial institutions, having grown so large and interconnected, are too big to indict." Continue reading →

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The Totalitarian One-way Mirror

"An official document produced by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security describes photographers as potential terrorists. The 'Roll Call Release' of November 13 recounted several incidents in which innocent photographers were detained for using cameras in public facilities like airports and shopping malls. Those incidents were described as successes because they served 'awareness and training purposes' – even though they had nothing to do with capturing terrorists or deterring terrorist acts. While police are trained to treat cameras in civilian hands as lethal weapons, the government they serve keeps us under unceasing surveillance." Continue reading →

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Social Security data of 13,000 health care workers mistakenly posted online for 9 days

"About 13,000 California home healthcare workers had their Social Security numbers exposed online for nine days after being mistakenly posted on a website for Medi-Cal, KCRA-TV reported on Tuesday. The California Department of Health Care Services (DHS) confirmed that the leak happened last month, the second security problem involving health care workers in the past five months, before the information was removed from public view." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSocial Security data of 13,000 health care workers mistakenly posted online for 9 days

Highway Robbery, Cajun Style

"After Tina Beers was stopped for a suspected traffic violation, the officer conducted a search of her minivan because she appeared nervous. He found a large amount of cash that had been bundled in rubber bands and shrink wrap. He claimed that the method of packing the cash suggested that it was drug proceeds, and confiscated it. No crime was committed, no charges were filed, there was no probable cause for the seizure -- but because the money was wrapped in a certain way, and the female driver was nervous in the presence of an armed tax-feeder, the highway robbers in uniform get to keep the cash." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHighway Robbery, Cajun Style

Highway Robbery, Cajun Style

"After Tina Beers was stopped for a suspected traffic violation, the officer conducted a search of her minivan because she appeared nervous. He found a large amount of cash that had been bundled in rubber bands and shrink wrap. He claimed that the method of packing the cash suggested that it was drug proceeds, and confiscated it. No crime was committed, no charges were filed, there was no probable cause for the seizure -- but because the money was wrapped in a certain way, and the female driver was nervous in the presence of an armed tax-feeder, the highway robbers in uniform get to keep the cash." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHighway Robbery, Cajun Style

Reality Check: Elmwood Place Speed Cameras An example Of “Policing For Profit”?

"For months, we have told you about the controversy over speed cameras in the village of Elmwood Place. In just a matter of months, $470,000 dollars in speeding tickets were mailed to drivers. While hundreds of residents in Elmwood Place have argued to have the cameras removed, the village leadership isn’t listening. Ben Swann of Reality Check is investigating the idea behind 'policing for profit'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingReality Check: Elmwood Place Speed Cameras An example Of “Policing For Profit”?

Reality Check: Elmwood Place Speed Cameras An example Of “Policing For Profit”?

"For months, we have told you about the controversy over speed cameras in the village of Elmwood Place. In just a matter of months, $470,000 dollars in speeding tickets were mailed to drivers. While hundreds of residents in Elmwood Place have argued to have the cameras removed, the village leadership isn’t listening. Ben Swann of Reality Check is investigating the idea behind 'policing for profit'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingReality Check: Elmwood Place Speed Cameras An example Of “Policing For Profit”?

Baltimore man gets speed camera ticket for going 0 MPH

"The City of Baltimore recently issued a ticket to Daniel Doty for speeding 38 miles per hour in a 25-mph zone — but photos and video captured by the speed camera system showed that his car was stopped at a red light at the time. Xerox State and Local Solutions, which is the contractor for Baltimore’s speed and red light cameras, said that each citation went through a two-step review to verify its accuracy, including an officer who must swear that the vehicle was going at least 12 MPH over the posted speed limit. Police spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi would not reveal which officer reviewed Doty’s ticket." Continue reading →

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Extremely Serious Privacy Problem in America

"One effect of undermining privacy is to suppress free speech. It makes the person afraid or reluctant to speak for fear that at some undetermined future time , his actions or statements will be used against him. They can be misconstrued. They can be taken out of context. He can be forced to defend himself, and that's costly. He may be subject to a police inquiry or invasion whereby his belongings are seized and his whole life disrupted. The State's powers turned against a person in this way are enormous. Privacy is one of those socially-useful and socially-necessary things that we take for granted when it's there." Continue reading →

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Black boxes in cars raise privacy concerns

"Many motorists don't know it, but it's likely that every time they get behind the wheel, there's a snitch along for the ride. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on Friday proposed long-delayed regulations requiring auto manufacturers to include event data recorders—better known as 'black boxes'—in all new cars and light trucks beginning Sept. 1, 2014. But the agency is behind the curve. Automakers have been quietly tucking the devices, which automatically record the actions of drivers and the responses of their vehicles in a continuous information loop, into most new cars for years." Continue reading →

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