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IT’S ILLEGAL
Tag: illegal
White House Demands Congressional Probe Whether Obama Ordered Wiretaps
by Tyler Durden
With Trump so far providing no follow up comments to his dramatic accusation from Saturday morning that Obama bugged the Trump Tower in October 2016, spending Saturday night at Mar-A-Lago where he had dinner with AG Jeff Sessions, he resumed the attack on Sunday morning when he went after the Democratic National Committee and President Obama in a series of early morning tweets.
In his first tweet, the president questioned rhetorically whether the DNC refused to let the FBI have access to its servers (as FBI director Comey confirmed previously, the DNC did in fact do that) after it learned it had been hacked: “Is it true the DNC would not allow the FBI access to check server or other equipment after learning it was hacked?” Trump asked. “Can that be possible?”
Continue reading “White House Demands Congressional Probe Whether Obama Ordered Wiretaps”
A Deep Dive into How the Clinton Foundation Operates Illegally and in Haiti
Guest Post by Charles Ortel
Understanding illegal activities of the Clinton Foundation requires grasping state, federal, and foreign laws that bar public charities from being run for private gain, and that govern solicitations using the mail, telephones, and digital media.
Remember, as you evaluate the available public record that Clinton Foundation trustees have never submitted the financial records of this web of public charities to an independent, properly certified audit, performed by fully informed and empowered accounting firms.
In addition to providing new overview perspectives on the Clinton Foundation charity fraud network, this update offers extensive background information concerning ways in which the Clinton Foundation, the Clinton family, and affiliates have operated in Haiti–a nation that lies on the epicenter of natural and manmade disasters.
What possesses powerful, wealthy, and educated persons to prey upon the most desperately poor humans on earth, while simultaneously trying to take credit for “philanthropy”?
And why have so many people failed to carry our their solemn duties overseeing charities, for so long?
Expect an increased flow of detailed disclosures centering upon Exhibits 1 through 40 through this website, and continued reaction to breaking developments via my twitter account (@CharlesOrtel).
Arizona Says “No” To Recording Cops… Even in Your Own Home
Guest Post by Eric Peters
Here’s one that demands pushback – as much as can be sent its way.
Arizona lawmakers want to make it illegal – a criminal offense – to film cops on private property.
In (air quotes) your home.
The air quotes being necessary to impart the appropriate irony.
If SB 1054 becomes law, anyhow.
If it does, AZ residents will be required to obtain the permission of any cop before they may lawfully record his actions. The legality of the cop’s conduct is ultimately irrelevant. He will be able to arrest you, if you film or otherwise record him without his prior ok.
This is an important point.
Legally speaking, any video made without prior permission stands on shaky ground as potential evidence – even if the video shows a cop committing crime. The video could be suppressed, dismissed – or more likely, destroyed. And the destruction could be – probably will be – anointed legal because, after all, the video was made illegally.
No surprise, SB 1054 was introduced by a Republican, AZ State Rep. John Kavanaugh of District 8 (see here for more about him). Even less surprisingly, Kavanaugh is an ex-cop. An ex New Jersey cop. New Jersey is a notably corrupt state, run by thugs like Chris Christie – who is known to have used his powers to abuse his political opponents (see here) and steer lucrative state contracts to family and friends like a real-life Tony Soprano (see here).
“Law and order” Republicans like Christie – and Kavanaugh – use the law to order things to their liking. La cosa nostra… this thing of ours.
Capisce?
Continue reading “Arizona Says “No” To Recording Cops… Even in Your Own Home”
IRS possessed Stingray cellphone surveillance gear, documents reveal
Exclusive: Invoices reveal tax service, 13th federal agency to use secretive dragnet, upgraded device that pretends to be cellphone tower to gather metadata
The Internal Revenue Service is the latest in a growing list of US federal agencies known to have possessed the sophisticated cellphone dragnet equipment known as Stingray, according to documents obtained by the Guardian.
Invoices obtained following a request under the Freedom of Information Act show purchases made in 2009 and 2012 by the federal tax agency with Harris Corporation, one of a number of companies that manufacture the devices. Privacy advocates said the revelation “shows the wide proliferation of this very invasive surveillance technology”.
The 2009 IRS/Harris Corp invoice is mostly redacted under section B(4) of the Freedom of Information Act, which is intended to protect trade secrets and privileged information. However, an invoice from 2012, which is also partially redacted, reports that the agency spent $65,652 on upgrading a Stingray II to a HailStorm, a more powerful version of the same device, as well as $6,000 on training from Harris Corporation.
Stingrays are the best-known example of a type of device called an IMSI-catcher, also known as “cell-site simulators”. About the size of a briefcase, they work by pretending to be cellphone towers in order to strip metadata and in some cases even content from phones which connect to them.
Continue reading “IRS possessed Stingray cellphone surveillance gear, documents reveal”
BOOK OF THE YEAR
The Last Rebels: 25 Things We Did As Kids That Would Get Someone Arrested Today
Submitted by Daisy Luther via The Organic Prepper blog,
With all of the ridiculous new regulations, coddling, and societal mores that seem to be the norm these days, it’s a miracle those of us over 30 survived our childhoods.
Here’s the problem with all of this babying: it creates a society of weenies.
There won’t be more more rebels because this generation has been frightened into submission and apathy through a deliberately orchestrated culture of fear. No one will have faced adventure and lived to greatly embroider the story
Kids are brainwashed – yes, brainwashed – into believing that the mere thought of a gun means you’re a psychotic killer waiting for a place to rampage.
They are terrified to do anything when they aren’t wrapped up with helmets, knee pads, wrist guards, and other protective gear.
Parents can’t let them go out and be independent or they’re charged with neglect and the children are taken away.
Woe betide any teen who uses a tool like a pocket knife, or heck, even a table knife to cut meat.
Continue reading “The Last Rebels: 25 Things We Did As Kids That Would Get Someone Arrested Today”
Cops Shut Down Girl’s Lemonade Stand for no Permit
Fuck the police.
Fuck the government.
Know your real enemy.
The Texas sisters Andria, 8, and Zoey Green, 7, wanted to raise about $100 to take their dad to Splash Kingdom as a Father’s Day present, so they set up a traditional neighborhood lemonade stand. After they made about $25 profit, the nasty insane Overton police showed up and shut the lemonade stand down because the Green sisters did not have a “Peddler’s Permit,” which comes with a $150 fee. The police have simply become the destroyers of society and no longer protect the society – they have been transformed into IRS agents with guns and wheels and far too many are ignorant of what role they now play in society.
The girls, in the true spirit of resistance, reopened giving lemonade out for free with tips being optional. That screwed the police. There is the future of society fighting back against those who are destroying all our freedoms.
THE NOOSE TIGHTENS
They want to track everything you do. They don’t want you using cash, because they can’t track what you are buying, selling, or bartering. Screw them. Reduce your electronic footprint. Fly under their radar. Barter with people. Use cash. Make their lives harder. Starve the beast. Fuck the government.
Louisiana Makes It Illegal To Use Cash To Buy Used Goods
(Doug Mataconis) Louisiana businesses are suddenly discovering a new law that flew under the radar during the last legislative session:
Cold hard cash. It’s good everywhere you go, right? You can use it to pay for anything.
But that’s not the case here in Louisiana now. It’s a law that was passed during this year’s busy legislative session.
House bill 195 basically says those who buy and sell second hand goods cannot use cash to make those transactions, and it flew so far under the radar most businesses don’t even know about it.
“We’re gonna lose a lot of business,” says Danny Guidry, who owns the Pioneer Trading Post in Lafayette. He deals in buying and selling unique second hand items.
“We don’t want this cash transaction to be taken away from us. It’s an everyday transaction,” Guidry explains.
Guidry says, “I think everyone in this business once they find out about it. They’re will definitely be a lot of uproar.”
The law states those who buy or sell second hand goods are prohibited from using cash. State representative Rickey Hardy co-authored the bill.
Hardy says, “they give a check or a cashiers money order, or electronic one of those three mechanisms is used.”
Hardy says the bill is targeted at criminals who steal anything from copper to televisions, and sell them for a quick buck. Having a paper trail will make it easier for law enforcement.
“It’s a mechanism to be used so the police department has something to go on and have a lead,” explains Hardy.
Guidry feels his store shouldn’t have to change it’s ways of doing business, because he may possibly buy or sell stolen goods. Something he says has happened once in his eight years.“We are being targeted for something we shouldn’t be.”
Besides non-profit resellers like Goodwill, and garage sales, the language of the bill encompasses stores like the Pioneer Trading Post and flea markets.
Lawyer Thad Ackel Jr. feels the passage of this bill begins a slippery slope for economic freedom in the state.
“The government is placing a significant restriction on individuals transacting in their own private property,” says Ackel.
To say the least.
HE WHO WRITES THE LAWS….
The ONLY person in prison related to torture is John Kiriakou who was the whistleblower.
How to Bend, Stretch, and Break the Law for Fun and Profit
Guest Post by Bill Bonner
Credit — unlimited by real money, real savings, real output… or real demand — leaks into all the corners of commerce. As time goes by, everything it touches begins to bend, warp, or rot.
In a healthy economy, with a limited amount of money, everyone is careful about wasting it.
Government deficits are limited, so as to avoid driving up interest rates; programs financed on credit are funded reluctantly… and spending is controlled. Private borrowers, too, clutch their wallets tightly; they know their purchasing power is limited.
Unlimited credit…creates unlimited opportunities for chicanery.
Lenders watch their steps; they don’t have unlimited funds to lend out. They study balance sheets and ask questions. Their eyes narrow when a potential borrower walks in the door. They sweat when he walks out with their money. Borrowers and lenders alike fret and worry.
Unlimited credit, which nobody earned, nobody saved, and nobody really ever expects to be paid back, is nobody’s problem. It creates unlimited opportunities for chicanery.
Here, I describe a few. This is meant to entertain and inform, by the way, not to encourage criminality or recklessness.
Get Free Food
“Numerous times, I’ve been offered a deal that’s tough to refuse,” my chief researcher, EB Tucker, tells me.
Many people receiving food stamps would like to buy something they can’t get at the grocery store… And they’re ready to bargain.
These days, “food stamps” are actually preloaded plastic cards. You use them with a code, like you would a debit card.
“Say the card is loaded with $400 in funds for ‘food assistance,’” EB explains… “They offer me use of the card for $0.50 on the dollar of benefit used. I could take the card to Whole Foods and buy grass-fed beef tenderloin filet for $50 a pound. I can also buy sustainably harvested Maine lobster tails and a bevy of side dishes. Total cost $400. Swipe the card, enter the pin, and I’m out the door.
“The card holder just wants $200.” That’s not the only story EB shared…
“Yesterday I was at the CVS in Venice Beach…
“The guy in front of me appeared moderately homeless… meaning he’s not afraid to spend several nights outside sleeping on the beach but probably has a dysfunctional relationship somewhere that yields sporadic indoor sleeping benefits. He was telling the other guy in line, ‘Yeah, man, I just got to this town yesterday… I’m starving man.’
“He bought four candy bars, a bag of M&Ms, a bag of gummy bears, and a glass-bottled Pepsi. He used a benefit card with a picture of mountains on it that said, in bold, ‘Nevada.’”
The food assistance program is “needs dependent.” The top benefit level is $1,200 a month. That’s for a household of eight people. It’s not a lot of money, but enough to keep you from starving.
But surely all of the 46 million food stamp recipients aren’t in danger of starving… We’re feeding 75% more people today than we were in 2007. You can qualify for food assistance if you own a $1 million home and drive a Mercedes Benz (39 states have no limit to vehicle value in their needs assessment).
The trick is you can’t have gross annual income of more than $14,940. But….you can be using a retirement or pension plan to pay for your home and car expenses. Or you set up a business. You drive the company car. You live in the company-owned house. You use a company credit card for your business expenses. Your business may never make much money and never pay you very much. But so what? The needs assessment only addresses income and cash in the bank.
Go on Disability
I have a younger cousin who is either on disability… or angling to get on it. What is wrong with him? He claims he has a “bad back”… but I think he is just lazy and shiftless. He is strong as an ox.
One day he helped me carry a heavy stove up a flight of stairs. But maybe that’s what happened to his back!
When the crisis came in ’08-’09, the number of people with bad backs suddenly shot up. At one point, twice as many people were added to the disabled list as to the employment rolls. Exact numbers are hard to get, but the total number of people receiving disability benefits rose 45% since the crisis began. It’s around 20 million today.
Most of the increase comes from people with psychological or musculoskeletal problems, both very hard to prove or refute. In one county, Hale County, Alabama, one out of four working-age people is apparently either a cripple or a mental defective.
Benefit levels vary. If you’re a construction worker over 50, and you hurt your back, you don’t have to undergo “retraining.” You’ll be considered 100% disabled for the rest of your career, such as it is.
“I don’t know what she makes moonlighting… but I’m certain it’s not included on the income line of her need assessment.”
The typical Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefit is about $1,200 per month. But your spouse will get another $300 or so… and you get about another $300 for each minor child. It adds up… get disability with a spouse and four children, and you’ve locked down $2,600 per month… with no taxes withheld! In Baltimore, that’s about equal to a job that pays $4,000 a month – well above the national average.
And you can still get food aid and rent assistance (Section 8), too.
EB, ever vigilant on the low-life side of town, has some insight into the rent assistance programs:
“One of my rental houses has been occupied by the same tenant for four years. She’s fantastic and appreciates how we take care of her. Her rent is $1,119 a month, including water. She pays $83 a month and Section 8 pays $1,036.
“Every nine months, we get a letter stating that her needs have been assessed and her payment has changed by $2 or $3 either direction. She gets food stamps, SSDI, and Section 8 rental assistance. She has a job, though…
“How do I know? Because three years ago I was on a double date with my girlfriend at the time and another couple. We were out in Ybor city. It’s a seedy part of Tampa that’s rich in Cuban history. I personally like it and have bought property on the northern boundary.
“The four of us were walking down the street and I see my tenant with an older gentleman… They just don’t look right together. She looked different, though: huge stilettos and a wig.
“She saw me and jumped up and came running down the street to hug me. She began assuring my girlfriend that she knew me as her landlord and I was the best landlord she’d ever had.
“I don’t know what she makes moonlighting… but I’m certain it’s not included on the income line of her need assessment.”
So, let’s see, a former breadwinner with a bad back, a spouse and four children might tap into the following benefits:
- Food Assistance: $700 per month
- Rent Assistance: $1,500 per month
- Disability Income: $2,600 per month
- Total: $4,800 per month = $57,600
… with no withholding for taxes. It’s nice work if you can get it.
Regards,
Bill Bonner
for The Daily Reckoning
Ed. Note: In today’s issue of The Daily Reckoning email edition, readers received a chance to discover a better (and more dignified) option than welfare to get stuff for FREE. In fact, this one offer could have shown you 127 ways to get most of the things you want or need, absolutely FREE. It’s part of the larger discussion going on in the FREE Daily Reckoning email edition. Get in on the discussion for yourself. Sign up for The Daily Reckoning, for FREE, right here.
Dozens of Indiana residents arrested for harvesting ginseng plants too early
Natural medicine is considered contraband without a state-issued license; can only be harvested legally during certain months.
INDIANA — A number of Hoosiers are facing charges and potential jail-time for merely possessing ginseng plants without government permission.
According to media reports, a total of 25 residents were caught up in a government crackdown to ensure compliance with the state’s onerous regulations on the natural plant, desired for its roots.
Indiana dictates every aspect of ginseng cultivation, including the issuance of a state license to “deal” ginseng; prescribing the dates of permissible harvesting; specifying the required plant characteristics before harvesting; controlling where and how it can be grown; controlling when and how it can be harvested; and controlling when, where and how it can be sold.
“It is ILLEGAL to buy, sell, or possess any ginseng out of season without written authorization from the Department of Natural Resources, Division of Law Enforcement,” states an official brochure from the Indiana DNR.
Individuals are only allowed to harvest ginseng between September 1st and December 31st each year (some restrictions apply). Selling ginseng is only permitted by licensed individuals between September 1st of the current year through March 31st of the following year (some restrictions apply).
Penalties for violating the various prohibitions on ginseng range between Class A and Class B misdemeanors, with maximum penalties of 1 year and 180 days in jail, respectively. Indiana Code 14-31-3 covers ginseng regulation and enforcement.
The recent police crackdown involved state conservation officers “acting on tips” regarding unlicensed ginseng growers, and with search warrants they shook down citizens for contraband plants. Officers arrested or cited individuals in Clark, Harrison, Martin, Orange, Scott, and Washington Counties. Names of those facing charges, as so far released, includes:
- Derek Durden, 40, Hardinsburg, possession of ginseng during closed season.
- Kyle Sneed, 34, Paoli, possession of ginseng during closed season.
- David Pittman, 56, Paoli, possession of ginseng during closed season, theft.
- Dustin Walton, 33, Hardinsburg, possession of ginseng during closed season, theft.
- Parker Mullins Jr. 18, Hardinsburg, possession of ginseng during closed season.
- William Yockey, 37, Eckerty, possession of ginseng during closed season, resisting law enforcement.
- Michele Reitz, 43, French Lick, possession of ginseng during closed season.
- Starla Enlow, 32, Shoals, possession of ginseng during closed season.
- Randy A. Stidham, 44, Austin, possession of ginseng during closed season.
- Randy L. Stidham, 26, Austin, possession of ginseng during closed season.
- George Stidham, 68, Austin, possession of ginseng during closed season.
- James McCurry, 43, Hardinsburg, possession of ginseng during closed season, theft.
- Devon McCurry, 19, Hardinsburg, possession of ginseng during closed season, theft.
- Daniel Arnold, 30, Salem, possession of ginseng during closed season, theft.
The plant is desired around the world and has a number of professed medicinal benefits, including stress relief, immunity support, blood sugar control, among other things. Its rarity, usefulness, and black market restrictions enable ginseng to fetch prices between $500 and $1000 per pound.
The black market has also driven people to commit property crimes such as stealing ginseng and secretly growing/harvesting ginseng on land belonging to someone else (to obscure blame for unlicensed cultivation). Of the listed charges this week, theft was a minority — most people were charged just for possessing ginseng out-of-season.
Setting aside the property violations, would people in a free society be imprisoned for merely possessing a naturally-occurring plant?
ILLEGAL
THE OBAMA DOCTRINE: AT ANY COST
“Of course, increasing energy costs drives up the price of literally all goods and services, in addition to destroying jobs, so this only scratches the surface. What we are witnessing is the deliberate lowering of the American standard of living out of ideologically motivated malice by executive fiat.
The highest price of all won’t come in terms of dollars, but will be paid in something more precious still: liberty. Obama and other extremists in the government tried to impose this regulation through legislative means but failed. So Congress was shoved aside; the rules are to be imposed by unelected and unaccountable EPA bureaucrats. The division of powers established by the Constitution is collapsing because Congress evidently does not have the character to defend its domain from usurpation by the executive branch.”
Dave Blount on Obama’s killing coal directives
How many more times does Obama need to shit on the U.S. Constitution, ignore Congressional and Judicial requirements, and cover-up his administrations crimes before someone with balls will step forward and start impeachment proceedings. Obama is a dangerous sociopathic tyrant who needs to be removed from office before he destroys what remains of this country.
Obama and his extremist sycophant followers do not care about making your life better. They know their rules, regulations, laws, and procedures will not actually do anything to save the planet. They want control over your lives at any cost. Their control freak initiatives are designed to provide government with complete control over every thing you do. Destroying the coal powered plants that currently provide 40% of our electricity, with no legitimate alternative, will have one and only one impact – driving the price of electricity higher. These communists dropped out of economics class in college to take classes in community organizing. The law of supply and demand is inconsequential to ideologues with an agenda of complete control.
The EPA’s own regulatory analysis of its rule to cut carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants says it will hike retail electricity by as much as 6.5% by 2020 — all while forcing 19% of the U.S. coal-fired capacity to shutdown and decreasing coal production by up to 28%. “Under the provisions of this rule, EPA projects that approximately 46 to 49 GW of additional coal-fired generation (about 19% of all coal-fired capacity and 4.6% of total generation capacity in 2020) may be removed from operation by 2020,” the EPA says in its regulatory impact analysis of the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan. The decrease in coal-fired power will also cause natural gas prices to rise up to 11.5% as an additional 1.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas is used to make up for the lack of coal power in 2020. And this is information from the government drones who think this is a great idea. The true impact will be ten times worse.
But the U.S. Chamber of Commerce reported that EPA’s power plant rule would increase peoples’ energy costs by $17 billion per year. In total, the EPA rule would cost the U.S. economy $50 billion annually and kill 224,000 jobs per year. Previous EPA regulations have already set the stage for skyrocketing electricity prices. The Mercury Air Toxics Standard (MATS), which comes in full effect in 2016, has already been predicted to force many coal plants to shut down and help drive up electricity costs.
These rules and regulations will add an average of $145 annually to all 117 million household electricity bills in the United States. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) says closing coal plants will drive up natural gas prices by 150% over 2012 levels by 2040, this cost rise will cause electricity prices to jump seven percent by 2025 and 22% by 2040. Obama and his minions are hanging their hats on the shale gas storyline of hundreds of years of natural gas. The entire storyline is a sham. The propaganda is false. Killing coal will drive the price of natural gas sky high and create shortages, blackouts, and misery for the American people.
Senator Thune has it right:
“Make no mistake, the administration’s proposed rule is nothing more than a national energy tax that will be yet another sucker punch to middle-class families struggling to get by in the Obama economy. These regulations, which will increase electricity costs, will especially hurt low-income families and seniors who live on fixed incomes and already devote a large share of their income to electricity bills. In addition to hurting families, the regulations will destroy jobs, while essentially doing nothing to improve our global environment. The president’s proposed regulations are lose-lose-lose.”
Everything Obama supports is designed to take money out of your pocket and put it into the hands of government drones who think they know how to spend your money better than you. While Obama destroys our energy delivery system and further impoverishes senior citizens and the poor, the government grows ever more powerful and infiltrates every crevice of our lives. Our liberties, freedoms, and right to live our own lives is stripped away.
As Obama and his apparatchiks destroy our economy in the name of saving the planet and providing “free” healthcare for the masses, China and India bring 4 coal powered electricity plants online every week.
Global demand for coal is expected to grow to 8.9 billion tons by 2016 from 7.9 billion tons this year. China is expected to add about 160 new coal-fired plants to the 620 operating now, within four years. During that period, India will add more than 46 plants. The U.S. has the largest supply of coal on the planet and we will be shutting plants as China and India build them. How exactly is the planet benefiting from this?
Lastly, do you find it interesting that the regions with the least economic impact from Obama’s regulations are areas controlled by Democrats and those impacted the most are controlled by Republicans? I’m sure it’s just a coincidence. Obama wouldn’t play politics with our energy.
GOVERNMENT STOPS CHURCH FROM CARING FOR THE POOR
Guest Post from Mike Krieger
Illinois Church Told by City Officials It Can No Longer Provide Homeless People Shelter
Throughout what has been one of the most brutal winters in recent memory, a small church in Rockford, Illinois decided to do the right thing and offer a warm, safe place to sleep for local homeless people. The church provided shelter to 30-50 people a night during the winter months, and probably even saved several lives as a result. For this horrific offense, city officials have zeroed in and told them they must stop this act of charity due to “zoning issues” and “safety hazards.”
This story is just another tale in a recent disturbing crackdown by local municipalities against private citizens and institutions trying to make life a little less painful for homeless people. Recall my very popular post from a month ago titled: South Carolina City Implements Law that Requires a $120 Permit to Feed Homeless People.
Now from WIFR 23News:
ROCKFORD (WIFR) — Leaders at a Rockford church say they have been told by the city that they can no longer act as a warming center and temporary homeless shelter because of zoning issues and apparent safety hazards.
Apostolic Pentecostals of Rockford church tells 23 News they were told Wednesday by the city that their facility doesn’t have adequate fire safety equipment and also isn’t zoned to serve the community as a warming center or shelter.
You got people out in the cold,” says church owner David Frederick, “and I think the city should allow us to stay open all night.”
Frederick says he has been warned by the city if his church takes people in he would be doing so illegally.
I’m really glad local “authorities” across America have got their priorities straight.
Full article from WIFR and video here.
In Liberty,
Michael Krieger