EFF – by Andrew Crocker

EFF recently received records in response to our Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Department of Justice for information on how the US Marshals—and perhaps other agencies—have been flying small, fixed-wing Cessna planes equipped with “dirtboxes”: IMSI catchers that imitate cell towers and are able to capture the locational data of tens of thousands of cell phones during a single flight. The records we received confirm the agencies were using these invasive surveillance tools with little oversight or legal guidance.   Continue reading “New FOIA Documents Confirm FBI Used Dirtboxes on Planes Without Any Policies or Legal Guidance”

Courthouse News – by Jeff D. Gorman

The Ohio Supreme Court disbarred a former judge who was convicted of accepting bribes and who gave false testimony at his trial.

Steven Terry began to serve as a judge on the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas in 2007.

Four years later, he was convicted of federal conspiracy and mail-fraud charges after he provided judicial favors in exchange for campaign contributions.   Continue reading “Ohio High Court Disbars Bribe-Taking Judge”

Dallas Morning News – by Lauren McGaughy

AUSTIN — President Barack Obama will visit Austin on Friday to help kick off South by Southwest. The same day, pro-gun protesters plan to march in the streets to show support for the state’s new open carry law.

This isn’t the first time protesters have openly carried guns during the nine-day festival. But it is the first time that SXSW organizers have brought in the president, who has repeatedly called for tightening gun laws in the wake of mass shootings nationwide.   Continue reading “Open carry leader: Obama’s Austin visit during SXSW gun rally could ‘get interesting’”

RT

John Antoine, an 86-year-old Tasered by a police officer while cooking soup, has been cleared of charges, a court ruled. The elderly man’s apartment had been raided by officers searching for his granddaughter’s boyfriend, said to be suicidal after running out of medication.

The incident took place while Antoine was cooking soup at his Brooklyn home back in October. Standing in the kitchen with a knife in one hand and an onion in the other, little did he imagine that a group of five armed police officers was about to break into his apartment.   Continue reading “86yo man Tasered by NYPD officer while cooking soup finally cleared of charges”

Reuters

Laws requiring background checks for buyers of guns and ammunition, as well as requirements that firearms be traceable, could sharply reduce gun deaths in the United States, according to a study published on Thursday.

Many state-level gun regulations have little effect on the number of gun-related homicides and suicides. But “stand-your-ground” laws, which allow people to use deadly force in self-defense even if fleeing is an option, tend to raise the number of gun deaths, the study by Boston University researchers published in the Lancet medical journal found.   Continue reading “Background checks for gun buyers could save lives, U.S. study finds”

Reuters

Voters in a rural southeastern Oregon county have registered their opposition to proposals to expand federal protective status within 2.5 million acres of scenic canyonlands near the wildlife refuge recently occupied by anti-government militants.

The referendum follows calls by an environmental group to designate the area as a conservation zone, a move local ranchers and many others in the area perceive as a potential land grab by the federal government.   Continue reading “Oregon residents vote ‘no’ on canyonlands conservation”

RT

China said it won’t accept criticism of its human rights record from the US, which is itself guilty of the “rape and murder” of civilians, as well as other crimes committed across the globe.

“The US is notorious for prison abuse at Guantanamo prison, its gun violence is rampant, racism is its deep-rooted malaise,” Chinese diplomat Fu Cong said at the UN Human Rights Council on Thursday.   Continue reading “China slams US for ‘rape, murder & kidnappings,’ defends own human rights record at UN”

“A FARMER AND PLANTER” had his work printed in The Maryland Journal, and Baltimore Advertiser, April 1, 1788.

The time is nearly at hand, when you are called upon to render up that glorious liberty you obtained, by resisting the tyranny and oppression of George the Third, King of England, and his ministers. The first Monday in April is the day appointed by our assembly, for you to meet and choose delegates in each county, to take into consideration the new Federal Government, and either adopt or refuse it. Let me entreat you, my fellows, to consider well what you are about. Read the said constitution, and consider it well before you act. Continue reading “Anti-Federalist Paper No. 26 – The Use Of Coercion By The New Government (Part 1)”

Subliminal manipulation

Subliminal perception is a deliberate process created by communication technicians, whereby you receive and respond to information and instructions without being aware of it. Messages in the form of printed words, pictures or voices presented either very rapidly or very obscurely bypass your conscious awareness. Anything consciously perceived can be evaluated, criticized, discussed, argued, and possibly rejected. Anything programmed subliminally to your subconsciousness meets no resistance. This subliminal information is stored in your brain and capable of influencing your judgment, behavior and attitudes.   Continue reading “Subliminal Manipulation”

Las Vegas Sun – by Chris Kudialis, Ricardo Torres

2:50 p.m.

Jailed rancher Cliven Bundy refused to acknowledge federal authority and declined to enter a plea in a U.S. court to criminal charges that he that he led an armed standoff against federal agents two years ago.

Amid confusion about whether Bundy has a lawyer, a federal magistrate judge entered a not guilty plea today on Bundy’s behalf and scheduled a detention hearing for March 17.   Continue reading “Bundy refuses to acknowledge federal authority, enter plea”

Free Thought Project – by Matt Agorist

Sweetwater County, WY — Multiple members of Sweetwater County’s Joint Special Weapons and Tactics Team made an epic blunder last week when executing a search warrant in search of arbitrary substances deemed illegal by the state, crystal meth. As the heavily militarized team began smashing up the house and deploying flashbang grenades, they realized they were destroying the wrong home.   Continue reading “SWAT Goes to Wrong Home, Smash Windows Deploy Flashbang on Innocent People Anyway”

RT

An operative of the Israeli Shin Bet security service was killed by friendly fire during an operation on the border with the Gaza Strip on Tuesday after being mistaken for a Palestinian attacker.

The shooting death of the agent identified as Amir Maimoni, 29, was first attributed to the activities of Palestinian militants, but Shin Bet chief Yoram Cohen confirmed in a statement that he was killed by mistake, AFP reports.   Continue reading “Israeli agent killed by friendly fire after being mistaken for Palestinian assailant”

Detroit Free Press – by John Wisely

The City of Detroit will pay a pet owner $100,000 after a police officer shot his dog dead while it was chained up beside his home.

Babycakes, a Dogue de Bordeaux, was on a 10-foot leash beside Darryl Lindsay’s home in the 11600 block of Strathmoor in January 2015 when Detroit police surrounded the house. They were there to question Lindsay, though he was never charged with a crime, according to his lawsuit filed last year in U.S. District Court.   Continue reading “Detroit police to pay $100,000 for shooting a dog”

Gun Watch – by Dean Weingarten

Gun turn in events have been losing steam for several years.  Academics agree that they are ineffective; activists agree that in most states, they end up as advertisements for gun ownership.  Only in states such as New Jersey, where private sales are highly regulated, are they contemplated with much enthusiasm bydisarmists.  But, New Jersey does make private sales more difficult than most states; and they are contemplating state financed gun turn in events.  From bergendispatch.com:   Continue reading “NJ: Bill to Fund Gun Turn in Events “buy backs” Bucks Trend”