Washington Post – by Robert O’Harrow Jr. and Steven Rich

D.C. police have made plans for millions of dollars in anticipated proceeds from future civil seizures of cash and property, even though federal guidelines say “agencies may not commit” to such spending in advance, documents show.

The city’s proposed budget and financial plan for fiscal 2015 includes about $2.7 million for the District police department’s “special purpose fund” through 2018. The fund covers payments for informants and rewards.   Continue reading “D.C. police plan for future seizure proceeds years in advance in city budget documents”

Nutmeg State SWAT storms gun owner's home, seizes firearmsHuman Events – by Raquel Okyay

Connecticut gun owner told Guns and Patriots that his civil rights were stripped from him by an anti-gun judicial branch and a soon-to-be ex-wife who is uncomfortable with him owning guns.

“High risk SWAT team rolls in and takes all my guns,” said Edward F. Taupier the respondent in a two-year divorce action that has escalated to an all-out war. “It took two armadillo armored vehicles, 75 officers with weapons drawn, and 45 minutes to raid my house.”

Although he said he posed no risk to the officers, Taupier was thrown to the ground and arrested.   Continue reading “Nutmeg State Swat Storms Gun Owner’s Home, Seizes Firearms”

In this photo posted to Jose Canseco’s Twitter account on Oct. 30, 2014, the former MLB star recovers in his Las Vegas home with his fiancee after the original injury.Miami Herald – by Sarah Knapp

Former MLB player Jose Canseco says he’s selling his detached digit on eBay.

The Canseco finger saga started in October when the Cuban-born, former Miami resident accidentally shot it off. Doctors reattached his finger, but apparently not well enough. Last Thursday while at a poker game, it fell off.

Canseco tweeted Monday night that he’d be selling the finger, along with the .45 caliber Remington gun that shot it off. Canseco hasn’t listed the items for sale as of yet, and didn’t mention a price.   Continue reading “For sale: Jose Canseco’s finger and the gun that shot it off”

nat guard 1Gateway Pundit – by Jim Hoft

The Missouri National Guard deployed to the St. Louis region on Tuesday, one day after Governor Jay Nixon declared a state of emergency.

Military vehicles were seen in St. Louis City and in West County.   Continue reading “Military Deploys Chemical, Biological, Nuclear & High Yield Explosive Response Vehicles to St. Louis”

Tech Swarm

If there is anything good to be said about mass surveillance, overcharging and monopolization by telecom/ISP companies, and government censorship including cell phone and Internet shutdowns as they see fit, it is that these heavy-handed measures only create a stronger desire for freedom.

For many in the modern world, open access to the World Wide Web is being viewed as an essential human right – it is a gateway to knowledge, peer-to-peer communication, innovation and economic opportunity. Basically: Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. For the 5 billion people who still do not have access, it represents the universal dream of self-determination.   Continue reading “5 Inventions That Herald an ”Outernet” Revolution”

g20.jpgBATR – by James Hall

Global trade relationships and agreements are moving in very different directions. The public relations press releases hide the undercurrents that are driving the formations of alternative economic alliances. While the G 20, markets its all inclusive umbrella policy forums, the mere formation of a BRICS counterweight forecasts deep and fundamental differences. So what is really behind the creation of a different approach to the post WWII dominate U.S. lead model? A clue can be found in an attempt to modify the operations and direction of IMF functions.   Continue reading “G 20 and BRICS Great Schism”

(Photo: Bob Jagendorf / creative commons)Common Dreams – by Nicole Flatow

Out of California’s years-long litigation over reducing the population of prisons deemed unconstitutionally overcrowded by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2010, another obstacle to addressing the U.S. epidemic of mass incarceration has emerged: The utility of cheap prison labor.

In recent filings, lawyers for the state have resisted court orders that they expand parole programs, reasoning not that releasing inmates early is logistically impossible or would threaten public safety, but instead that prisons won’t have enough minimum security inmates left to perform inmate jobs.   Continue reading “California Tells Court It Can’t Release Inmates Early Because It Would Lose Cheap Prison Labor”

90 year old Mary Helen Morgan. (Image: Albany Police Department)Police State USA

ALBANY, GA — Police raided an elderly woman’s home because they suspected that she was allowing people to play cards and bet money inside without government permission — an “illegal gambling house.”

The raid took place on the evening of November 15th, 2014. Around 8:30 p.m., the Albany Police Department, along with multiple other agencies, entered the home of 90-year-old Mary Helen Morgan to search for evidence of gambling.   Continue reading “Police raid home of 90-year-old Georgia woman for unsanctioned gambling”

The commies are out in force, but it’s for your safety don’t you know! They know what’s best for you! But… It’s not going to work, especially in this little New England town. The woman who proposed the ban had to be escorted to her car by the police, because she feared for her life. 🙂

New York Times – by KATHARINE Q. SEELYE

WESTMINSTER, Mass. — The fury — and make no mistake, it is white-hot fury — went way beyond the ordinary wrath of offended citizenry. A plan here to ban the sale of tobacco has ignited a call to arms.   Continue reading “Firestorm Erupts in Anti-Smoking Massachusetts Town”

Health overhaul's subsidies at Supreme CourtYahoo News – by Rick Newman

Taxes are bad enough when you know they’re coming—and much worse when they arrive unexpectedly.

As the Affordable Care Act enters its second year of operability, a key and controversial element of the plan will begin to affect several million Americans for the first time. People who didn’t have health insurance during 2014 may soon have to pay a penalty fee that starts at $95 and goes up based on how much you earn. Some Americans know about the penalty, and they’ve budgeted for it or at least accepted its inevitability. But several million others could be in for a rude surprise when Washington assesses a fee they didn’t even know was coming.   Continue reading “Another rude Obamacare surprise awaits”

An HSBC branch in London.The Guardian – by Rory Carroll

China has blocked access to HSBC’s banking portal and possibly thousands of other websites in what appears to be a new censorship campaign days before it hosts a major internet industry conference.

Greatfire.org, a group that researches Chinese internet censorship, said on Tuesday HSBC had been caught up in a crackdown against so-called mirror sites which let users access censored sites such as YouTube.

Greatfire.org said Beijing had shut access to HSBCnet and EdgeCast, one of the world’s biggest content delivery networks (CDN) in order to block a pathway to forbidden sites.   Continue reading “China steps up web censorship and blocks HSBC”