Investment Watch – by Robert Patrick Shanahan

The United States is far from the land of the free these days. The governments in state capitols and Washington DC have confiscated our rights and are selling them back to us.

American culture has shifted in a frightening way that has expanded the number of professions and industries that now require an occupational license to legally provide a service or start a business. This stifles business creation in many states and disproportionally affects low and middle income individuals the most.   Continue reading “The Regulated States of America: Occupational Licensing Gone Wild”

Miami Herald – by Carol Marbin Miller

Broward County prosecutors have ruled that a former detention center officer was justified when he slugged a 14-year-old boy in the face — breaking the teen’s nose in two places — because the juvenile was aggressive with staff and causing a disturbance in the county’s long-troubled lockup.

Former lockup officer Darell Bryant will not face charges as a result of the incident, which occurred on Feb. 12, 2017. In a “close-out” memo signed earlier this month, prosecutor Christopher Killoran with the Broward State Attorney’s Office said that Bryant “was justified in his use of force and his actions that day.”   Continue reading “Lockup guard slugged a skinny kid. Prosecutors say it’s justified. Here’s the video.”

Daily Mail

Microsoft’s Bill Gates is backing a start-up that will provide ‘live and unfiltered’ high definition footage of every inch of Earth.

The startup, EarthNow, plans to launch 500 satellites to cover Earth’s atmosphere in ‘Big Brother’ real-time video surveillance.

As well as Gates, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son and aerospace giant Airbus are also backing the project.    Continue reading “Bill Gates backs a $1 billion plan to cover Earth in ‘Big Brother’ satellites capable of streaming ‘live and unfiltered’ HD footage of the planet”

Fox News

A former 911 operator who hung up the phone “thousands” of times on people attempting to call in emergencies in Harris County, Texas has been sentenced to jail time.

Crenshanda Williams, 44, was found guilty of interference with emergency telephone calls Wednesday after “systematically” hanging up the phone on residents of Harris County, KTRK reported.   Continue reading “911 operator who hung up on emergency calls is sentenced to jail”

The Detroit News – by Francis X. Donnelly

Thetford Township — The two-man police department in this rural community outside Flint has amassed a massive amount of surplus military equipment over the last decade.

The free material, received through a federal program, includes mine detectors and Humvees, tractors and backhoes, hydroseeders and forklifts, motorized carts and a riding lawnmower. The landlocked township also has gotten boat motors and dive boots.  Continue reading “Michigan town’s feud over military gear gets ugly”

In Justice Today – by Michael Stein

On April 30, 2015, William Aubin Jr. was at home with his wife in Livingston Parish, Louisiana when a patrol car from the sheriff’s office pulled onto his street. The deputy, William Durkin, was there to investigate a reckless driving complaint. Aubin wasn’t involved in the incident but he knew about it and went outside of his home to speak with Durkin. During a vulgar and combative conversation, according to Aubin, Durkin repeatedly called Aubin a “pussy.”   Continue reading “In Louisiana, Threatening to File a Complaint Against Police Can Lead to a Five-Year Prison Sentence”

The Newspaper

The lies told by Detroit, Michigan police officers at a traffic stop were so outrageous that a federal judge had no option but to let the motorist walk on firearms charges last week. US District Judge Mark A. Goldsmith was outraged at the conduct of Officers Quinton Jackson, Xiong Vang and Matthew Morrison who stopped and searched Jaquane Smith on the east side of the city on August 20, 2017.   Continue reading “Federal Judge Scolds Detroit Cops For Lying About Traffic Stop”

MassPrivateI

Since October 1, 2017, Massachusetts vehicle inspection stations have been required to purchase five cameras to record vehicles in real-time.

The new system called ‘Mass Vehicle Check’ (MVC) requires inspectors and stations to spend $5,710.00 – $8.141.00 dollars to purchase government approved surveillance gear.

Forcing vehicle inspection stations to pay to for government surveillance cameras sounds familiar.   Continue reading “Massachusetts new vehicle registration program uses five cameras to spy on vehicles in real-time”

Courthouse News – by Matt Reynolds

AKRON, Ohio (CN) – An Ohio mother claims in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that officials in the Akron school district allowed a man impersonating a police officer to handcuff and threaten to stun her child under the guise of a fake “scared straight” program purportedly aimed at deterring kids from committing crimes.

A woman identified in the federal complaint as M.H. sued on behalf of her son, W.H., alleging the school permitted the man to roam the Leggett Community Learning Center in a black police uniform with a badge partially obscured by black tape and openly carry a firearm.   Continue reading “Mom Says Ohio School Allowed Fake Cop to Assault Son”

New York Daily News

Brooklyn cops used a stun gun on the wrong man Tuesday when they responded to an emergency call about a guy who was emotionally disturbed, witnesses and authorities said.

A desperate mother dialed 911, saying her son was being disruptive and had busted up their home and run off, sources said.   Continue reading “Cops stun, arrest wrong person in hunt for disturbed man off meds”

Tenth Amendment Center – by Mike Maharrey

BOSTON, Mass. (April 17, 2018) – Last week, a Massachusetts committee passed a bill that would limit access to, and retention and sharing of, data collected by automatic license plate readers. Passage into law would also place significant roadblocks in the way of a federal program using states to help track the location of millions of everyday people through pictures of their license plates.   Continue reading “Massachusetts Committee Passes Bill to Limit ALPR Data, Help Block National License Plate Tracking Program”

NJ.com

Democratic state lawmakers have a new target as they aim to tighten New Jersey’s already strict firearms laws: “ghost guns.”

A new bill that began advancing in the Democrat-controlled state Legislature on Monday would prohibit the purchase of firearm parts used to make these untraceable homemade guns.    Continue reading “Now New Jersey is looking to ban ‘ghost guns’”

Seattle Times

A King County sheriff’s detective who was captured on video pointing a handgun at a motorcyclist during a traffic confrontation last summer has been suspended for five days without pay.

But the punishment announced by Sheriff Mitzi Johanknecht during a news conference Monday at Sheriff’s Office headquarters didn’t result from pulling the gun, but stemmed from the detective’s lack of courtesy and unbecoming conduct.   Continue reading “King County sheriff’s detective who pulled gun on motorcyclist is suspended”

MassPrivateI

Earlier this month Courthouse News reported that retailers across the country are being sued for using a “corrective education” program that is tantamount to extortion.

Retailers like Walmart, DSW, Bloomingdale’s, Kroger and Abercrombie & Fitch use the Corrective Education Company’s (CEC) restorative justice program to “reform generations” of accused shoplifters.   Continue reading “Law enforcement and retail theft company profit from 50 billion record database”

Global News

City councillors voted Wednesday to continue running a pilot program measuring vehicle noise this summer. By the summer of 2019 they hope to have a system that is to noise what photo radar is to speed.

Edmonton bylaw staff are going to use the information they collect this summer to create a method of catching loud vehicles in a sound trap, in the same way lead-footed drivers are caught in a speed trap.   Continue reading “Edmonton has photo radar-like device to measure noisy vehicles”

Judicial Watch

An Indian reservation along one of the most perilous sections of the Mexican border won’t allow National Guard troops to enter its land, which is a notorious smuggling corridor determined by the U.S. government to be a “High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA).” Sources inside the U.S. Border Patrol and other law enforcement agencies working along the Arizona-Mexico border tell Judicial Watch that the tribe, Tohono O’odham Nation, has banned National Guard troops deployed by President Donald Trump to help crack down on a crisis of drug smuggling and illegal crossings along the 2,000-mile southern border. “They told us they don’t want white man on their land,” said a high-level federal official working in the region. “The agency, of course, is going to cater to that.”  Continue reading “Indian Tribe Won’t Let National Guard Into “Most Notorious Area for Drugs Entering the County”—Border Patrol: “They Told Us They Don’t Want White Man on Their Land””

MLive

TROY, MI – The Troy Police Department has chosen its new crime fighting cat, but will have to wait a couple weeks before the kitty can join the department.

Last month, you’ll recall, Troy PD put out a Twitter challenge: “If we get 10,000 followers by April, we want a police cat.” It reached the goal weeks before April.  Continue reading “Meet the police cat chosen for the Troy Police Department’s Feline Unit”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

Few Americans are aware of the extent to which the US government influences not just the price of their food – thanks to the massive subsidies the US Department of Agriculture disburses to America’s farmers – but also the contents of menus at restaurants and fast food chains.   Continue reading “Here’s How The US Government Influences What Food You Eat”

Chicago Tribune

Police in McHenry County will be out for blood with drivers who refuse to take breath tests for suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

And the practice of officers immediately seeking blood draws from those who won’t submit to a breath screen appears to be spreading, with Lake County also planning to adopt a similar policy.   Continue reading “New DUI policy: Refuse breath test, cop will seek instant warrant for blood test”