Author: Joe from MassPrivateI

Real Farmacy – by Joe Martino

Earlier this year, Texas state brought several SWAT teams to the quiet and peaceful Garden of Eden Community and threatened its existence. In what appears to be an intimidation tactic, only a single arrest was made based on unrelated outstanding traffic violations, and a handful of citations were given for city code violations. Absolutely no drug related violations were found and all inhabitants of the community were unarmed.   Continue reading “SWAT Teams Raid Sustainable Community”

Lew Rockwell – by Michael S. Rozeff

Predictably, President Obama has done nothing significant to diminish the National Security State. He presided over its expansion. Why should he want to undo it?

It’s a big mistake, however, in understanding the National Security State (NSS) and what to do about it to focus on Obama. The issue concerning the NSS is much deeper than one man, one president and a few terms of office.   Continue reading “Dangerous Organizations of the National Security State”

New York Post – by Kevin Sheehan

Cops bloodied an 84-year-old man and put him in the hospital Sunday when he jaywalked at an Upper West Side intersection and didn’t appear to understand their orders to stop, witnesses said.

Kang Wong was strolling north on Broadway and crossing 96th Street at around 5 p.m., when an officer told him to halt because he had walked against the light.   Continue reading “Cops bloody old man — for jaywalking”

New York Times – by JACK HEALY

The bomb threat was just a hoax, but officials at Hebron High School near Dallas took no chances: School officials called the police and locked down the school this week. Separately, a middle school 2,000 miles away in Washington State went on lockdown after a student brought a toy gun to class.

But the threat and the gun were real at Berrendo Middle School in Roswell, N.M., where a seventh grader with a sawed-off shotgun walked into the gymnasium and opened fire on his classmates on Tuesday, wounding two of them. School officials and teachers, who had long prepared for such a moment, locked down the school as police officers and parents rushed to the scene.   Continue reading “In Age of School Shootings, Lockdown Is the New Fire Drill”

NPR – by Elise Hu

The thing about the Internet of Things, which describes the near future in which all our devices and appliances are connected to the Internet — and one another — is that suddenly they’re vulnerable to the dark side of constant connectivity, too. Cybersecurity folks point out it “opens a Pandora’s Box of security and privacy risks that cannot be ignored,” writes Christophe Fabre, CEO of software services vendor Axway.   Continue reading “What Do You Do If Your Refrigerator Begins Sending Malicious Emails?”

Yahoo News -by Lawrence Hurley

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Friday to decide whether police can search an arrested criminal suspect’s cell phone without a warrant in two cases that showcase how the courts are wrestling to keep up with rapid technological advances.

Taking up cases from California and Massachusetts arising from criminal prosecutions that used evidence obtained without a warrant, the high court will wade into how to apply older court precedent, which allows police to search items carried by a defendant at the time of arrest, to cell phones.   Continue reading “U.S. Supreme Court to weigh cell phone searches by police”

Huffington Post – by JEFF BARNARD

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — A federal appeals court ruled Friday that bloggers and the public have the same First Amendment protections as journalists when sued for defamation: If the issue is of public concern, plaintiffs have to prove negligence to win damages.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered a new trial in a defamation lawsuit brought by an Oregon bankruptcy trustee against a Montana blogger who wrote online that the court-appointed trustee criminally mishandled a bankruptcy case.   Continue reading “Bloggers Have First Amendment Protections, Court Rules”

Fox News

Border Patrol agents at southern Arizona checkpoints routinely violate the constitutional rights of U.S. citizens with illegal searches and other actions despite the agency’s mandate that stops be limited to immigration enforcement, according to a complaint filed Wednesday.

The letter from the American Civil Liberties Union to the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General seeks an investigation into 12 specific cases and a review of checkpoint policies to determine if agents are complying with constitutional guidelines.   Continue reading “ACLU: Border Patrol Agents Routinely Violate Rights Of U.S. Citizens At Highway Checkpoints”

Breitbart – by WILLIAM BIGELOW

It’s a heavyweight fight between the Agriculture Department and Congress over a major dietary issue: white potatoes.

The Agriculture Department, advised by the Institute of Medicine, wants to prevent participants in the federal Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program from buying white potatoes. They say they are concerned that the women will turn the potatoes into dangerous French fries, frying or baking them in fats and oils and jeopardizing the health of children across America. In 2009, the Department allowed the women to buy fruits and vegetables with their vouchers but no white potatoes.   Continue reading “Agriculture Department: No More White Potatoes, No More French Fries”

MassPrivateI

Paper or plastic? cash or charge? Now there’s a new question when it comes time to pay: What kind of receipt would you like?

As CBS 2′s Maurice DuBois reports, stores are increasingly offering to send customers email receipts, which are convenient and save paper.   Continue reading “E-receipts a privacy nightmare for consumers”

MassPrivateI

Protecting Baltimore from a nuclear attack. DHS officials will conduct tests this week that could save lives and they’ll be done from a helicopter flying extremely low over the city. (This is just another excuse by our gov’t to spy on citizens)

Officials will test for radiation so they can respond more quickly in case of a nuclear or dirty bomb attack.   Continue reading “DHS begins using helicopters to spy on homes claims they’re looking for radiation”

Prevent Disease – by Dave Mihalovic

The average person that consents to a vaccine injection, either for themselves or for their children, genuinely believes it is for the betterment of health. What they are not aware of is that even their doctor is likely unfamiliar with the toxic ingredients contained in vaccines which can immediately begin to degrade both short- and long-term health. If your doctor insists that vaccines are safe, then they should have absolutely no problem in signing this form so that you may archive it for your own records on the event of an adverse reaction.   Continue reading “If Your Doctor Insists That Vaccines Are Safe, Then Have Them Sign This Form”

Huffington Post – by Dave Jamieson

WASHINGTON — After failing to reach an agreement that would avoid litigation, the federal labor board issued a complaint against Walmart on Wednesday, formally accusing the world’s largest retailer of breaking labor law during Black Friday strikes by its store workers.

In the complaint, the general counsel’s office of the National Labor Relations Board accused Walmart of illegally threatening or punishing workers who considered taking part in the high-profile walkouts that started in November of 2012. The agency, which is tasked with enforcing labor law covering unions and employers, generally prefers to reach a settlement before litigating such a case, and only files a complaint if the parties can’t manage to come to terms through negotiations.   Continue reading “Feds Charge Walmart With Breaking Labor Law In Black Friday Strikes”

MassPrivateI

A federal judge who endorsed “suspicion-less” searches of laptops, cameras and cell phones at the border has set up a possible Supreme Court showdown challenging what critics call “Constitution-free zones” and the Obama administration’s dragnet approach to national security.

A decision by Judge Edward Korman upholding the federal government’s right to search travelers’ electronic devices at or near the border conflicts with a similar ruling in California. That ruling requires a “reasonable suspicion” of criminal activity before agents can confiscate and examine personal photos, laptops and files. Korman’s ruling does not.   Continue reading “Judge gives ok to ‘Constitution-free zones’ within 100 miles of border”

Kansas City Star – by Tony Rizzo

Washington’s Blog

America Adopts Soviet-Style Mass Surveillance, Propaganda, Censorship, Communist Torture Techniques, and Socialist Economics

Bill Binney is the high-level NSA executive who created the agency’s mass surveillance program for digital information. A 32-year NSA veteran widely regarded as a “legend” within the agency, Binney was the senior technical director within the agency and managed thousands of NSA employees.   Continue reading “When Did America Turn Into the Soviet Union?”

MassPrivateI

Calling the ATF’s tactics appalling, alarming, disturbing and “almost unimaginable,” congressional members on Thursday slammed the agency for how it conducted storefront stings across the nation and renewed their demand for answers.

The sharply worded letter is the latest salvo from members of Congress to U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Director B. Todd Jones regarding the undercover operations.   Continue reading “Congress calls ATF sting tactics ‘almost unimaginable’”

MassPrivateI

More lending companies are mining  Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social-media data to help determine a borrower’s creditworthiness or identity, a trend that is raising concerns among consumer groups and regulators.

Lending companies—some of which are backed with venture funding from Google Ventures the venture-capital arm of Google Inc., and Accel Partners, an early Facebook Inc. investor—are looking at potential problems such as whether applicants put the same job information on their loan application as they posted on LinkedIn, or if they shared on Facebook that they had been let go by an employer. A small business that draws negative reviews on Ebay could undermine its chances of getting more credit, lending companies say.   Continue reading “Lenders are spying on social media websites to determine a borrower’s creditworthiness”