Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Tracking Our Cars Now

According to a study published by the ACLU, law enforcement agencies across the country are scanning images of parked and moving vehicles, noting their location and then uploading the information into police databases. The data is stored for an indefinite amount of time.  Although a judge's approval is needed to track a car with GPS, according to the Supreme Court, scanning license plates, even a few times a day, to track location is permitted. As this scanning becomes more utilized by law enforcement, it becomes "easier to build a record of where someone has been and when..."

Law enforcement says it is an investigative tool to be used when looking for information on a particular vehicle in connection to a crime, and not intended to follow the public's movements. However, from a study done by the ACLU: "based on 26,000 pages of responses from 293 police departments and state agencies across the country, found that license plate scanners produced a small fraction of “hits,” or alerts to police that a suspicious vehicle had been found. In Maryland, for example, the state reported reading about 29 million plates between January and May of last year. Of that number, about 60,000 – or roughly 1 in every 500 license plates – were suspicious. The main offenses: a suspended or revoked registration, or a violation of the state’s emissions inspection program, altogether accounting for 97 percent of alerts."

"Although less thorough than GPS tracking, plate readers can produce some of the same information, the group says, revealing whether someone is frequenting a bar, joining a protest, getting medical or mental help, being unfaithful to a spouse and much more."

Seems the cost of security is getting higher, only we're paying with our liberties.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/07/17/you-can-drive-but-you-cant-hide-millions-of-innocent-american-drivers-are-being-tracked/
http://news.yahoo.com/driving-somewhere-theres-govt-record-140052644.html

Bill of Rights Under Attack

Too often there are stories about our civil rights, as expressed in the Bill of Rights and other amendments, coming under attack. This is happening on all levels of government: local, state and federal. Just a few examples:

When the police asked Anthony Mitchell if they could use his family's house to observe their neighbors for a domestic violence investigation, they were refused because Mitchell didn't want to get involved.  So, the police decided to use the house anyway and smashed down his door. They shot Mitchell and his dog with pepperball rounds (equivalent of pepper spray) where they lay on the floor. The ordeal continued with the eventual arrest of Mitchell and his father.  Currently the family is suing for violation of the Third Amendment. http://dailycaller.com/2013/07/05/lawsuit-police-seize-homes-arrest-owners-to-investigate-neighbor/

A young couple, unhappy with the treatment their baby was getting at a hospital, took him from there, after being told that he needed open heart surgery asap.  Mistakenly, they took their son, without official discharge, and went straight to another hospital for a second opinion. There they were told he was safe to go home. The next day, the police showed up at their house, ready to break the door down. "I asked them if they had a warrant. Next thing you know I'm basically being pushed, dropped to the ground," he said, recalling that officers handcuffed him, then took away his keys and tried to enter the house. At that point, he said he called his wife from outside and told her to call 911." http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/04/30/police-take-baby-away-family-wanted-second-medical-opinion
The following video shows police letting themselves in without a warrant, and taking the baby.
“I’m going to grab your baby, and don’t resist, and don’t fight me okay?” one officer can be heard telling the mother in the video. “It seems like parents have no rights whatsoever,” Alex said.  Originally from Russia, he said the situation reminds him of a “communist regime.” Clearly a violation of the Fourth Amendmenthttp://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/04/29/im-going-to-grab-your-baby-and-dont-resist-cops-barge-into-cali-parents-home-take-their-baby-after-they-seek-2nd-medical-opinion-and-its-on-video/
 
Obamacare mandates that all employers provide coverage for abortion-inducing drugs, contraceptives and sterilization. This is in direct conflict with religious liberty as stated in the First Amendment. http://blog.heritage.org/2012/12/08/americans-recognize-obamacares-religious-liberty-problem/

A libertarian college student, who it is now known to have pre-planned the stop, was pulled over at a DUI check point in Tennessee.  An officer came up to his car and the young man opened the window just enough to speak to him and hear him.  The officer's intimidation ensued when the driver stated he didn't need to open his window any wider. This young man was well educated on his constitutional rights, and the officers knew that. They pursued their tactics anyway, forced him out of the car and searched it. The driver posted a recorded video of this stop on You Tube, where it proceeded to get millions of hits. Whether this was a 'test' or not on the part of the student, lawyers can debate whether the officer in question was guilty of violating the Fourth and Fifth Amendmentshttp://www.ibtimes.com/dui-checkpoint-video-goes-viral-21-year-old-chris-kalbaugh-defies-tennessee-police-deputy-part

The recent revelations about the Dept. of Justice wiretapping Associated Press and Fox News, and the IRS targeting of individuals and groups with opposing political views, are in clear violation of free speech as found in the First Amendment.

The NSA's widespread and egregious spying on all Americans violates the Fourth Amendment as the federal government intrudes on the privacy rights of innocent people. http://www.infowars.com/judge-napolitano-obamas-unprecedented-violation-of-the-4th-amendment/

The Federal and state governments that legislate gun control must do so without violating the Second Amendment. In Maryland, the sheriff has declared that the new gun control law does violate the Second; it requires people to submit fingerprints to get a handgun license, bans 45 types of guns and limits gun magazines.  http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3028173/posts
In Alabama, the state senate voted to prohibit federal gun control laws from being enforced if they deem that they violate the Second Amendment.  http://redalertpolitics.com/2013/05/01/alabama-senate-votes-to-ignore-new-federal-gun-laws-that-violate-second-amendment/

Know your rights and you'll know when you are being deprived of them.  http://www.constitutionfacts.com/us-constitution-amendments/bill-of-rights/

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Tyranny Lurks

For those of you who are still fooled by the promises of Obamacare and the smooth rhetoric of this president, hear this:  As part of the Obamacare law, the Federal Data Services Hub is being established by the Dept. of Health and Human Services "to implement the federally facilitated health insurance exchanges." What this means, is that the government is amassing more of our private information and compiling it into one comprehensive database. This includes: "income and financial data, family size, citizenship and immigration status, incarceration status, social security numbers, and private health information."

Knowing that half the population will believe what is told to them, the government is assuring us that there is nothing to worry about - this will all be secure. Do they mean like our emails, documents, phone calls, banking information, etc. as collected by the NSA? Do they mean like the iris scanning of our children who board school buses? Do they mean like the IRS poking into the content of prayers of conservative non-profit groups looking for tax-exempt status? Do they mean like the attempted intimidation of certain members of the press?

When this president recently gave a speech at Ohio State University, he instructed the graduates to reject the warning voices:  "You've grown up hearing voices that incessantly warn of government as nothing more than some separate, sinister entity that's at the root of all our problems; some of these same voices also doing their best to gum up the works. They'll warn that tyranny is always lurking just around the corner. You should reject these voices. Because what they suggest, is that our brave, and creative, and unique experiment in self-rule is just a sham with which we can't be trusted."

Maybe we should reject his voice. We must always have a healthy distrust of the government - this is why the Constitution was set up the way it was; with checks and balances, separate branches of government, enumerated powers and layers of representative government. Our founding fathers knew about the abuse of power and incorporated these means to safeguard us from tyranny.  However, we have a president who views our Constitution as a charter of negative liberties and feels constrained by it; which is why he openly and repeatedly talks about circumventing Congress to get things done the way he sees fit.  Mr. President, without these constraints on the government, especially the executive branch, tyranny is always lurking around the corner.
http://rare.us/story/move-over-nsa-here-comes-the-obamacare-big-brother-database/
http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/05/06/transcript-obamas-commencement-speech-at-ohio-state/
http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/061812-615239-obama-is-dangerously-close-to-totalitarianism.htm?p=full
http://www.exposepubliccorruptors.org/content/editorial-27-obamas-imperial-presidency-ignore-congress-do-it-anyway
“You’ve grown up hearing voices that incessantly warn of government as nothing more than some separate, sinister entity,” he told the new graduates. “They’ll warn that tyranny is always lurking just around the corner. You should reject these voices. Because what they suggest is that our brave, and creative, and unique experiment in self-rule is somehow just a sham with which we can’t be trusted.” - See more at: http://rare.us/story/note-to-obama-we-just-dont-trust-you/#sthash.31CuKyRi.dpuf
“You’ve grown up hearing voices that incessantly warn of government as nothing more than some separate, sinister entity,” he told the new graduates. “They’ll warn that tyranny is always lurking just around the corner. You should reject these voices. Because what they suggest is that our brave, and creative, and unique experiment in self-rule is somehow just a sham with which we can’t be trusted.” - See more at: http://rare.us/story/note-to-obama-we-just-dont-trust-you/#sthash.31CuKyRi.dpuf
“You’ve grown up hearing voices that incessantly warn of government as nothing more than some separate, sinister entity,” he told the new graduates. “They’ll warn that tyranny is always lurking just around the corner. You should reject these voices. Because what they suggest is that our brave, and creative, and unique experiment in self-rule is somehow just a sham with which we can’t be trusted.” - See more at: http://rare.us/story/note-to-obama-we-just-dont-trust-you/#sthash.31CuKyRi.dpuf
“You’ve grown up hearing voices that incessantly warn of government as nothing more than some separate, sinister entity,” he told the new graduates. “They’ll warn that tyranny is always lurking just around the corner. You should reject these voices. Because what they suggest is that our brave, and creative, and unique experiment in self-rule is somehow just a sham with which we can’t be trusted.” - See more at: http://rare.us/story/note-to-obama-we-just-dont-trust-you/#sthash.31CuKyRi.dpuf

Sunday, July 21, 2013

Expansion of Iris Scanning


Once again, we are trading privacy and liberty for security.  In a follow-up to my blog post of June 2nd called "Tracking Students" it was then reported that iris scanning was being done in some Florida schools to replace bus passes.  This technology will now extend to many other schools from elementary to college.

This fall, schools will be trying out this new technology to replace ID cards and bus passes. Scanning irises will be the new means of identification. This technology is seen by many as an accurate way to make sure the kids get on the right bus. And if that's not enough, parents can download an app that keeps them apprised of their child's movements when they get on and off the bus. “Every time a child boards or exits the bus, his parent gets an email or text with the child’s photograph, a Google map where they boarded or exited the bus, as well as the time and date.”  This tracking technology may sound attractive to certain parents, but this can go to dangerous places fast.
Eventually, it most probably will be stored in a database linked to a social security number, name and address, medical history, etc.  Seems if we continue on this road, we will be raising a new generation of kids who will ultimately become accustomed to this sort of biometric identification.  http://betabeat.com/2013/07/eyeball-scanning-is-now-a-reality-coming-to-a-middle-school-near-you/
http://www.breitbart.com/InstaBlog/2013/07/11/Schools-Try-Iris-Scans-Instead-Of-Student-ID-s

Monday, July 15, 2013

The George Zimmerman Case - Do Facts Matter?

In My Opinion...
It never had to get to this point. A young man didn't have to die, and another man's life doesn't have to be threatened with vigilante justice. But one would think, according to the media and the race baiters who are given every platform to demagogue the issue, this was a simple case of racial hatred and an opportunity for a white man to 'get' a black man. Demonstrations across the country are showing real anger by people who clearly think the verdict was unjust. Unfortunately, this case has become one of 'racism in America'. However, none of the facts in the case support this argument; but let's not let facts get in the way. 

In hindsight, both parties, had they handled things differently, would not have had the unfortunate confrontation. In a general overview, Zimmerman, on neighborhood watch, noticed suspicious behavior in Trayvon Martin. While on the phone with the police dispatcher to report this, he was being questioned as to where Martin was going. Some speculate that Zimmerman didn't have to get out of his car, and worse, disobeyed a direction not to, although the reason he did get out of his car is important.  In order to answer the question as to where Martin was going, Zimmerman got out to follow him so he could tell them where Martin was headed.  In hindsight, he could've said he didn't know and wasn't leaving his car, but Zimmerman was trying to get information for them to follow up. Then, when he was asked if he was following Martin, he said yes. At this point, he was already out of the car and the dispatcher told him he didn't need to do that. Zimmerman said 'ok' and started walking back to his car, when Martin showed up behind him. Martin, didn't have to circle back around, threaten him and get violent. He could have continued on to his destination 30 seconds away.  The facts show that it was Martin who was the aggressor, and the only wounds he sustained before getting shot, were scraped knuckles.  Photographic evidence showed that Zimmerman had head injuries from being pounded into the ground and injuries to his face, including a broken nose. Testimony revealed that Zimmerman was straddled by Martin during this pummeling.  Should he have allowed Martin to continue to beat him or should he have defended himself?  The jury concluded he had a right to defend himself.  The jury concluded that Zimmerman didn't break the law.

But, from the get-go, the media was anxious to paint this as a racially charged crime. The media pushed a narrative that Martin was an innocent, and very young boy (remember the early picture of him as a 12 yr-old?). Never mind that Martin, as a 17 year-old,  had a police record for theft and other suspicious activity, had been in many fights, had been suspended from school a few times and had marijuana in his system at the time of the incident. Zimmerman was labelled white and racist and then it was discovered that he was half Hispanic. That's when he became a white Hispanic - where did that label come from? And to help mold the perception that this was a crime of racism, NBC News edited a tape of Zimmerman answering a question to police as to whether Martin was white, black or Hispanic and he answered 'black'. The NBC tape made it appear that Zimmerman was telling them he was black and, therefore, suspicious. The fact is, that after much investigation into Zimmerman after the crime, it was determined that racism was not a part of his character and he had never displayed any evidence of racial bias.  He had mentored black children, he had a black business partner, and he grew up in a household that was racially integrated. These were not the signs of a racist.  The facts, though, don't seem to matter.

For the race baiters like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, who make a living off of these incidents, it was important that this was to be a white man killing an innocent black boy. Why is it important to the left that white Americans are seen as racist? Does it not make a difference that black Americans have served in the highest positions of leadership in our government, including the highest - that of the presidency? What purpose does it serve, to black children in particular, to think that our country has it in for them? Why is it irrelevant that almost everyday in Chicago black children and adults are being murdered? Is it because these murders are committed by black people? Why is that ok? Why does the liberal media insist on nurturing this notion that America is a racist nation? Where is Sharpton and Jackson and the other so-called leaders in trying to stop these crimes? Nowhere. Maybe because it has nothing at all to do with looking out for the welfare of black Americans, and everything to do with ginning up the racial divide in this country. But what's the advantage in that? Well, that's a subject for another day, which needs deep investigation.

In the meantime, a young man is tragically dead, another has a target on his back, and too many people are exploiting this. Do facts matter?

http://lawofselfdefense.com/zimmerman-trial-myth-busters-did-zimmerman-chase-martin-against-police-orders/
http://legalinsurrection.com/2013/07/in-busting-zimmerman-myths-jonathan-capehart-perpetuates-the-greatest-myth-of-all/
http://stevengoddard.wordpress.com/2013/07/06/shock-news-trayvon-has-a-police-record-for-theft-hiding-and-acting-suspicious/
http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/326700-full-transcript-zimmerman.html
http://www.inquisitr.com/847663/george-zimmerman-racism-he-helped-black-people/

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Uninformed and Dangerous

Frightening and dangerous to this country is the uneducated voter.  It's time to do a better job of teaching our citizens about American history and our founding documents. Watch as people readily sign a petition to repeal the Bill of Rights.  http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/07/09/watch-and-weep-heres-a-video-of-people-signing-a-petition-to-repeal-the-bill-of-rights/

And, a revealing look into an uninformed group of people on the meaning behind Independence Day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRkFDcX_72c&feature=c4-overview&playnext=1&list=TLeWeFCSo7UuI

Hillsdale College offers free online courses on American history, the Constitution, and more.  They are very interesting and worthwhile.  Become an educated voter and know what your government is doing.  https://online.hillsdale.edu/register

Thursday, July 4, 2013

The Declaration of Independence

Action of Second Continental Congress,
July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

 

WHEN in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.
WE hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness—That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and organizing its Powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient Causes; and accordingly all Experience hath shewn, that Mankind are more disposed to suffer, while Evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long Train of Abuses and Usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a Design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their Right, it is their Duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future Security. Such has been the patient Sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the Necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The History of the present King of Great-Britain is a History of repeated Injuries and Usurpations, all having in direct Object the Establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid World.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public Good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing Importance, unless suspended in their Operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the Accommodation of large Districts of People, unless those People would relinquish the Right of Representation in the Legislature, a Right inestimable to them, and formidable to Tyrants only.
He has called together Legislative Bodies at Places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the Depository of their public Records, for the sole Purpose of fatiguing them into Compliance with his Measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly Firmness his Invasions on the Rights of the People.
He has refused for a long Time, after such Dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative Powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the Dangers of Invasion from without, and Convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the Population of these States; for that Purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their Migrations hither, and raising the Conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary Powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the Tenure of their Offices, and the Amount and Payment of their Salaries.
He has erected a Multitude of new Offices, and sent hither Swarms of Officers to harrass our People, and eat out their Substance.
He has kept among us, in Times of Peace, Standing Armies, without the consent of our Legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a Jurisdiction foreign to our Constitution, and unacknowledged by our Laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For quartering large Bodies of Armed Troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all Parts of the World:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us, in many Cases, of the Benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pre-tended Offences:
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an arbitrary Government and enlarging its Boundaries, so as to render it at once an Example and fit Instrument for introducing the same absolute Rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with Power to legislate for us in all Cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our Seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our Towns, and destroyed the Lives of our People.
He is, at this Time, transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the Works of Death, Desolation, and Tyranny already begun with circumstances of Cruelty and Perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous Ages, and totally unworthy of the Head of a civilized Nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the Executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic Insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the Inhabitants of our Frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known Rule of Warfare, is an undistinguished Destruction, of all Ages, Sexes and Conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions we have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble Terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated Injury. A Prince, whose Character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the Ruler of a free People.
Nor have we been wanting in Attentions to our British Brethren. We have warned them from Time to Time of Attempts by their Legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the Circumstances of our Emigration and Settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and Magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the Ties of our common Kindred to disavow these Usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our Connections and Correspondence. They too have been deaf to the Voice of Justice and of Consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the Necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of Mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace, Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and Declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES, that they are absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political Connection between them and the State of Great-Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which INDEPENDENT STATES may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our fortunes, and our sacred Honor.