Author Topic: Police State - Official Thread  (Read 980197 times)

avxo

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #1025 on: February 19, 2013, 01:48:37 PM »
In Pittsburgh they need hovercrafts?  


First of all, let me repost my comment, and add a bit of emphasis: "Emergency services (like police and fire departments) are a legitimate function of government. They frequently provide rescue services. If this hovercraft can help, why shouldn't they have it?"

So the question is, can the hovercraft help? Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't they have two rather large rivers basically running into the city, only to join and continue downstream? Now, I'm not a a search and rescue expert, but it seems to me that a hovercraft could be a valuable asset in search and rescue operations.

The matter should, obviously, be scrutinized but based on what I read I don't see anything outright inappropriate.

Tell us 333386, as a search and rescue expert who possesses a "Master's License" what's your take on this? Please explain things and substantiate your opinions, but please be sure to speak slowly and not use any crazy marine terms so the rest of us can understand ::)

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #1026 on: February 19, 2013, 01:51:51 PM »

First of all, let me repost my comment, and add a bit of emphasis: "Emergency services (like police and fire departments) are a legitimate function of government. They frequently provide rescue services. If this hovercraft can help, why shouldn't they have it?"

So the question is, can the hovercraft help? Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't they have two rather large rivers basically running into the city, only to join and continue downstream? Now, I'm not a a search and rescue expert, but it seems to me that a hovercraft could be a valuable asset in search and rescue operations.

The matter should, obviously, be scrutinized but based on what I read I don't see anything outright inappropriate.

Tell us 333386, as a search and rescue expert who possesses a "Master's License" what's your take on this? Please explain things and substantiate your opinions, but please be sure to speak slowly and not use any crazy marine terms so the rest of us can understand ::)

I'm sure many police would find it helpful to drive Humvees too, doesnt make it good policy.  And what exigent circumstances call for this?  Is there a rash of failed rescue attempts that regular watercraft can't handle?  Do that have amphibious drug craft delivering drugs from the rivers onto land they need to chase down or something?  This is overkill. 

avxo

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #1027 on: February 19, 2013, 01:59:10 PM »
I'm sure many police would find it helpful to drive Humvees too, doesnt make it good policy.  And what exigent circumstances call for this?  Is there a rash of failed rescue attempts that regular watercraft can't handle?  Do that have amphibious drug craft delivering drugs from the rivers onto land they need to chase down or something?  This is overkill. 

Is it? I don't know the facts. But clearly you do - apparently you not only are an expert in search and rescue operations, but also are intimitely familiar with the operational capacity and needs of the emergency services of the city of Pittsburgh. Oh 33386, you truly are a renaissance man.

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #1028 on: February 19, 2013, 02:00:48 PM »
Is it? I don't know the facts. But clearly you do - apparently you not only are an expert in search and rescue operations, but also are intimitely familiar with the operational capacity and needs of the emergency services of the city of Pittsburgh. Oh 33386, you truly are a renaissance man.

These govt agencies all ask for everything imaginable.   After 9/11 a lot of these agencies in the name of terrorism got all sorts of toys to play around with they didnt need simply cause the $$$$ was flowing. 

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #1029 on: February 19, 2013, 02:05:07 PM »

avxo

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #1030 on: February 19, 2013, 02:23:01 PM »
These govt agencies all ask for everything imaginable.   After 9/11 a lot of these agencies in the name of terrorism got all sorts of toys to play around with they didnt need simply cause the $$$$ was flowing. 

No doubt. But does this particular case fall into this category?

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #1031 on: February 19, 2013, 02:26:01 PM »
No doubt. But does this particular case fall into this category?

Dont think so IMHO.   Again - if there is a documented need over a course of multiple events maybe - but a few here or there?  To me that does not justify the expenditure. 

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #1032 on: February 20, 2013, 10:44:16 AM »
'Bug-Sized' Drones Are The Most Frightening Type Of Killer Robot Yet
 Michael Kelley|50 minutes ago|166|1



New issue of National Geographic, John Horgan details the rise of drones after 9/11 and their creep into American airspace.
 
One thing that stands out is that the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has challenged researchers to build micro aerial vehicles (MAVs) that “hide in plain sight" by mimicking the size and behavior of bugs and birds.
 
Consequently, the U.S. Air Force has constructed a 4,000 square foot “micro-aviary” for flight-testing small drones. Horgan wasn't able to witness the work — much of which is classified — but he was shown an animated video showing bug- and-bird-like micro-drones "swarm through alleys, crawl across windowsills, and perch on power lines."
 







U.S. Air Force
 


The potential for these “unobtrusive, pervasive, [and] lethal" mirco drones is very impressive as they would be able to work together while providing unprecedented surveillance access in cities and houses in addition to detecting aspects of the environment such as chemical presence.
 







U.S. Air Force
 


The potential is also terrifying since MAVs could be used in "direct attack missions" to covertly assassinate someone with a chemical or explosive payload (as the video shows).
 







Air Force
 
A micro drone "eliminating a target"
 

One comfort for those who may start distrusting mosquitoes and birds on the wires: ensuring that the MAVs can stay aloft for more than a few minutes will require advances in battery technology and may take years (if not more than a decade) to realize.
 
Here's the Air Force video:
 




Recommended For You


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/air-force-bug-sized-drones-are-scary-2013-2#ixzz2LSyUqkE0


Skip8282

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #1033 on: February 21, 2013, 07:43:53 PM »
Dont think so IMHO.   Again - if there is a documented need over a course of multiple events maybe - but a few here or there?  To me that does not justify the expenditure. 




Agreed, they want the Federal funds, the onus is on them to sell the program to the public at large......or should be, haha.

I can tell you from living around that area, people go into the drink for some incredibly stupid reasons.  Get mad at girlfriend, jump off boat.  Trying to retrieve kid's toy.  One went on a dare.  Then river rescue has to put their lives at risk to save some of these dipshits.

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #1034 on: February 22, 2013, 06:09:10 AM »
The Department Of Homeland Security Seized Michael Arrington's Boat, And Boy Is He Enraged
Megan Rose Dickey|24 minutes ago|83|



 
Prominent Silicon Valley investor and TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington has a bone to pick with the Department of Homeland Security for seizing his boat.
 
After he sold TechCrunch in 2010, the one thing he splurged on was a boat, Arrington writes on his blog, Uncrunched.
 
But now he says buying the boat, which he has named "Buddy," was one of the worst decisions he's ever made, and that the nightmare is just beginning.
 
Since Buddy was built in Canada, it had to go through customs, as required by the DHS.
 
When Arrington arrived to fill out the necessary paperwork, he found an error on it. The DHS had changed the currency from Canadian to U.S. dollars.
 
"I pointed out the error and suggested that we simply change the currency from US $ to CAD $ so that is was correct," Arrington writes. "Or instead, amend the amount so that it was correct in U.S. dollars."
 
The DHS agent didn't care and insisted that he sign the form anyway, Arrington says. But Arrington wouldn't sign it, so the DHS ended up seizing his boat.
 
"A person with a gun and a government badge asked me to swear in writing that a lie was true today," Arrington writes. "And when I didn’t do what she wanted she simply took my boat and asked me to leave."
 

SEE ALSO: This Investor Spent ~$300,000 Hacking His Own Biology — And You Won't Believe What He Learned About Orgasms


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-department-of-homeland-security-seized-michael-arringtons-boat-and-boy-is-he-enraged-2013-2#ixzz2LdYF9yIN


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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #1035 on: February 22, 2013, 06:33:03 PM »


 FBI Sexting: Reports Show Numerous Agents Disciplined For Inappropriate Messages (VIDEO)


Posted: 02/22/2013 3:00 pm EST







According to the Atlantic Wire, an internal FBI report obtained by CNN shows that the FBI had to fire "numerous employees for things like sexting, spying on their bosses, and getting 'happy endings' at a massage parlor."

HuffPost Justice reporter Ryan Reilly joined Alyona Minkovski Huffpost Live on Friday to discuss the unfolding story.

"Its coming from people who are both using their personal mobile devices and interrupting office culture as well as people who are suing their government issued blackberries to do this," Reilly said.

"There are thousands and thousands of employees within the FBI," Reilly said, and though we hold FBI agents to a higher moral standard, "it's not a massive, massive problem."

The FBI's disciplinary reports are quite detailed in outlining exactly what various employees are doing, perhaps in an effort to stymie such behavior in the future.

One report included details about an employee emailing nude photographs of herself to her ex-boyfriend's wife. The report goes so far as to note that the "employee failed to cease contact with ex-boyfriend and wife after twice being ordered to do so by supervisor and Chief Security Officer," and included that the employee was suspended for 10 days.

Watch the Full Segment on HuffPost Live.

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #1036 on: February 23, 2013, 09:54:56 PM »
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US Navy Plans Drone Base Near Malibu
CBSLA.com) ^ | February 23, 2013 5:46 PM
Posted on February 24, 2013 12:16:41 AM EST by BenLurkin

MALIBU (CBSLA.com) — The US Navy plans to build a drone base at an airfield in Point Magu, about 15 miles from Malibu.

Navy Base Ventura County, Point Mugu will add about 700 jobs when the four drones — called Tritons Unmanned Weapons Systems — are stationed.

Additional drones from Navy bases around the world would also land and takeoff at the Southern California base.

The planes are 48 feet long and have 138-foot wingspans. They were unveiled at Palmdale last summer, and represent the military’s next generation of remote control intelligence gear.

An environmental impact report said about five takeoffs and landings a day would be added at the Navy field. The planes would primarily take off and depart over the ocean, the Navy document said.

An existing fire station would be remodeled to provide quarters to control the planes. In future years, a new taxiway and hangar would be erected.

Cameras and other remote-control sensors would be operated by military intelligence officers from flight levels altitudes of around 58,000 feet, the Navy said.

Between employees, support staff and families, the project is estimated to bring about 2,380 people to the region.

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #1038 on: March 02, 2013, 07:15:30 PM »
DHS use DMV offices to build database with your photo,birth certificate & CCW info (MO)
Missouri Family Network ^ | 3/02/13 | Missouri Family Network
Posted on March 2, 2013 9:12:08 PM EST by listenhillary

In keeping with restrictions in State Statutes, and faced with federal encroachments of the 2005 Patriot Act, the Missouri Department of Revenue has been requiring Missouri citizens processing driver license applications and renewals to present what is commonly referred to as “source documents” to prove identity and residency. These required documents include birth certificates, Social Security numbers (in violation of original federal laws related to them), and any documents tracing legal name changes such as marriage and/or divorce documents. Alternative military documents are acceptable when applicable.

Despite assurances to the public that providing these source documents would be a “one time” imposition, last November DOR announced that those who had already been processed using these documents would have to do so again the next time they renewed their driver’s license. Why? Until recently your local licensing office has been directed to simply check off boxes on processing forms that a license or renewal applicant has produced and shown each of these source documents. However, we now understand that DOR has changed this process in direct violation of Missouri State Statues and is once again violating your personal privacy rights! Without seeking statutory approval, or even informing lawmakers or any legislative oversight – DOR has been retooling your local license office! They have been doing this without explaining themselves to the general public, and according to confidential sources they have been trying to avoid public scrutiny even to the point of refusing questions from local license office personnel!

One by one DOR has been removing the State’s driver’s license processing equipment from local offices and replacing it with equipment provided by National Homeland Security equipment. Local license office personnel are being instructed to use this equipment (in violation of State Statutes and citizen’s privacy). Once installed this equipment is used to take your picture for your driver’s license similar to the removed State equipment. But now your photo is being immediately sent into a national database. Then all of your source documents are being scanned with this equipment and sent into the federal governments central database also! This is contrary to Missouri Law! With DOR removing the state’s equipment, your local licensing office has no options but to comply.

Additionally we are hearing from some folks that any and all additional documents, brought in by individuals unsure of what is needed for processing, are being scanned and included. And, if you are one of the thousands of citizens who only use a post office box rather than a physical mailbox, you are automatically labeled with a fraud alert!

To make matters worse. You will no longer receive your driver’s license on the spot as has been with the state’s efficient equipment. Instead you will be provided a “temporary” license until your permanent one arrives in the mail from a third party vendor. What is unclear is who is paying the third party vendor, apparently in a seeming ruse to make it look like everything is being directed from within the State. We believe this is to distract attention from the involvement of the federal Homeland Security and their issuance and/or control of everyone’s new “Enhanced Driver’s License” (see Homeland Security website page enclosed below). Note the primary purpose of all this is to include a readable chip in your driver’s license which leads back to a federal government database containing a variety of details and information violating your privacy rights and the religious convictions and liberties of those who hold such beliefs.

On Wednesday, February 27, 2013, the Missouri Senate Transportation Committee held a public hearing on Senate Bill 252 (http://www.senate.mo.gov/13info/pdf-bill/intro/SB252.pdf) which seeks to strengthen current laws against what DOR is doing. SB 252 was introduced by Senator Will Kraus (republican, Dist. 8, Lee’s summit). During the hearing MFN was the only witness to provide public testimony on the bill. In that hearing MFN President Kerry Messer quoted one of the State Statutes prohibiting DOR from doing the things now being required of local licensing offices. MFN outlined some of the direct violations of law DOR is engaged in. MFN outlined the illegal changes in DOR procedures, testifying (in part):

“Missouri Revised Statutes, Chapter 32.091.7 clearly states two prohibitions on the Missouri Department of Revenue without “specific statutory authorization”. First is that the Department “shall not collect” individually identifying information on driver’s license applicants, which the Department is requiring of local license offices by requiring them to scan personal source documents without any other options for processing driver’s licenses. Secondly the Department is prohibited from including “any information by which an individual may be identified, unless the department has specific statutory authorization”, which is also being violated by the Department. In this second violation the Department is requiring local licensing offices to provide scanned documents to a federal database that can be cross-referenced through an embedded microchip containing a personalized reference number that may be used to access whatever prohibited information the federal agency chooses.”

Yes, that’s right, not only is the magnetic strip once again being used for improper purposes, but now DOR is authorizing an RFID chip to be implanted into your license card! While Homeland Security claims this is secure because only a reference number will be on the chip, this individualized number traces back to the federal government’s file containing all your source documents (and who know what else). Citizens’ confidence in this security is understandable questionable in light of the common news reports of computer hacking, including government databases. The fact that your new “Enhanced Driver’s License” comes in a protective slip cover to minimize illegal readings is of little comfort.

More at the link http://missourifamilynetwork.net/


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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #1039 on: March 05, 2013, 10:24:15 AM »
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/05/dianne-feinstein-olc-memos_n_2811846.html

Amazing - look at what liberal commies are supporting now? 

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #1040 on: March 05, 2013, 11:30:56 AM »
http://washingtonexaminer.com/tsa-uniform-perks-more-expensive-than-marine-corps/article/2513111

Unreal.   The TSA getting more expensive uniforms than the USMC 


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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #1042 on: March 11, 2013, 09:13:08 AM »

1.6 Billion Rounds Of Ammo For Homeland Security? It's Time For A National Conversation

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ralphbenko/2013/03/11/1-6-billion-rounds-of-ammo-for-homeland-security-its-time-for-a-national-conversation



Armored Personnel Carriers in Baghdad. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Denver Post, on February 15th, ran an Associated Press article entitled Homeland Security aims to buy 1.6b rounds of ammo, so far to little notice.  It confirmed that the Department of Homeland Security has issued an open purchase order for 1.6 billion rounds of ammunition.  As reported elsewhere, much of this purchase order is for rounds forbidden by international law for use in war, along with a frightening amount specialized for snipers.  Also reported elsewhere, at the height of the Iraq War the Army was expending less than 6 million rounds a month.  1.6 billion rounds, therefore, would be enough to sustain a hot war for 20+ years.  In America.

Add to this perplexingly outré purchase of ammo, DHS now is showing off its acquisition of heavily armored personnel carriers, repatriated from the Iraqi and Afghani theaters of operation.  As observed by “paramilblogger” Ken Jorgustin last September:



 NRA Winning the Influence Battle Over Gun Control Bruce RogersForbes Staff

Obama's Gun-Control Laws Would Limit, Not Destroy $32B Firearm Industry Abram BrownForbes Staff

A Gun-Control Battle That Could Actually Damage The Industry Is Escaping Public Attention Abram BrownForbes Staff

How To Rescue The Republicans From The Grave Karl Rove Is Digging For Them Ralph BenkoContributor


“[T]he Department of Homeland Security is apparently taking delivery (apparently through the  Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico VA, via the manufacturer – Navistar Defense LLC) of an undetermined number of the recently retrofitted 2,717 ‘Mine Resistant Protected’ MaxxPro MRAP vehicles for service on the streets of the United States.”  …

“These MRAP’s ARE BEING SEEN ON U.S. STREETS all across America by verified observers with photos, videos, and descriptions.

“Regardless of the exact number of MRAP’s being delivered to DHS (and evidently some to POLICE via DHS, as has been observed), why would they need such over-the-top vehicles on U.S. streets to withstand IEDs, mine blasts, and 50 caliber hits to bullet-proof glass? In a war zone… yes, definitely. Let’s protect our men and women. On the streets of America… ?



“They all have gun ports… Gun Ports? In the theater of war, yes. On the streets of America…?

“Seriously, why would DHS need such a vehicle on our streets?”
 
Why indeed?  It is utterly inconceivable that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is planning a coup d’etat against President Obama, and the Congress, to install herself as Supreme Ruler of the United States of America.  There, however, are real signs that the Department bureaucrats are running amok.  About 20 years ago this columnist worked, for two years, in the U.S. Department of Energy’s general counsel’s office in its procurement and finance division.  And is wise to the ways.   The answer to “why would DHS need such a vehicle?” almost certainly is this:  it’s a cool toy and these (reportedly) million dollar toys are being recycled, without much of a impact on the DHS budget.  So… why not?

Why, indeed, should the federal government not be deploying armored personnel carriers and stockpiling enough ammo for a 20-year war in the homeland?  Because it’s wrong in every way.  President Obama has an opportunity, now, to live up to some of his rhetoric by helping the federal government set a noble example in a matter very close to his heart (and that of his Progressive base), one not inimical to the Bill of Rights: gun control.  The federal government can (for a nice change) begin practicing what it preaches by controlling itself.

And … remember the … Sequester?  The president is claiming its budget cuts will inconvenience travelers by squeezing essential services provided by the (opulently armed and stylishly uniformed) DHS.  Quality ammunition is not cheap.  (Of course, news reports that DHS is about to spend $50 million on new uniforms suggests a certain cavalier attitude toward government frugality.)

Spending money this way is beyond absurd well into perverse.  According to the AP story a DHS spokesperson justifies this acquisition to “help the government get a low price for a big purchase.” Peggy Dixon, spokeswoman for the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center:  “The training center and others like it run by the Homeland Security Department use as many as 15 million rounds every year, mostly on shooting ranges and in training exercises.”

At 15 million rounds (which, in itself, is pretty extraordinary and sounds more like fun target-shooting-at-taxpayer-expense than a sensible training exercise) … that’s a stockpile that would last DHS over a century.  To claim that it’s to “get a low price” for a ridiculously wasteful amount is an argument that could only fool a career civil servant.

Meanwhile, Senator Diane Feinstein, with the support of President Obama, is attempting to ban 100 capacity magazine clips.  Doing a little apples-to-oranges comparison, here, 1.6 billion rounds is … 16 million times more objectionable.

Mr. Obama has a long history of disdain toward gun ownership.  According to Prof. John Lott, in Debacle, a book he co-authored with iconic conservative strategist Grover Norquist,


“When I was first introduced to Obama (when both worked at the University of Chicago Law School, where Lott was famous for his analysis of firearms possession), he said, ‘Oh, you’re the gun guy.’

“I responded: ‘Yes, I guess so.’

“’I don’t believe that people should own guns,’ Obama replied.

“I then replied that it might be fun to have lunch and talk about that statement some time.

“He simply grimaced and turned away. …

“Unlike other liberal academics who usually enjoyed discussing opposing ideas, Obama showed disdain.”
 
Mr. Obama?  Where’s the disdain now?  Cancelling, or at minimum, drastically scaling back — by 90% or even 99%, the DHS order for ammo, and its receipt and deployment of armored personnel carriers, would be a “fourfer.”
•The federal government would set an example of restraint in the matter of weaponry.
•It would reduce the deficit without squeezing essential services.
•It would do both in a way that was palatable to liberals and conservatives, slightly depolarizing America.
•It would somewhat defuse, by the government making itself less armed-to-the-teeth, the anxiety of those who mistrust the benevolence of the federales.

If Obama doesn’t show any leadership on this matter it’s an opportunity for. Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, to summon Secretary Napolitano over for a little … national conversation. Madame Secretary?  Buying 1.6 billion rounds of ammo and deploying armored personnel carriers runs contrary, in every way, to what  “homeland security” really means.  Discuss.

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #1043 on: March 11, 2013, 02:49:33 PM »
The FBI Goes To Disturbing Lengths To Set Up Potential Terrorists
 
Paul Szoldra|16 minutes ago|4|

AP


 
James Cromitie, center, is led by police officers from a federal building in New York after being arrested for plotting to bomb New York synagogues and shoot down military aircraft.
 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has busted an impressive number of homegrown terror plots over the past decade, but many people don't realize how these plots materialize. In some cases, they are hatched not from a cave-dwelling fanatic, but actually from the Bureau itself.
 
Ever since 9/11, the task of thwarting terrorist plots has consumed the majority of the FBI's budget — $3.3 billion compared to $2.6 billion for organized crime, according to Mother Jones.
 
The once exclusively investigative bureau has morphed into a counterterrorism agency, with field agents tapping into a nationwide network of informants that infiltrate mainly-Muslim communities.
 
The FBI targets the "disgruntled few" who would participate in a terrorist plot if given the opportunity, according to Mother Jones. In many cases, the FBI recruits potential terrorists and provides them with plans, equipment, and weapons — before finally shutting them down and getting credit for thwarting another attack.
 
***
 
One example surfaced in December 2005, when the FBI arrested Michael Curtis Reynolds after he tried to meet an FBI informant whom he believed to be an al Qaeda contact. Authorities said he expected to receive $40,000 to finance an alleged plot to blow up pipelines and refineries, according to Fox News.
 
The charges and his later conviction stemmed mostly from online conversations he was having with a Montana judge (and FBI informant) he believed was a terrorist leader.
 
But would Reynolds have gone that far on his own? An FBI official speaking to Fox News on condition of anonymity said "that the agency has since concluded that Reynolds might be mentally ill and not as serious a threat as originally believed."
 
***
 
Another case in May 2007 involved men who certainly weren't fans of the United States, but had scarce means of carrying out an attack.
 
Five foreign-born men, described by federal authorities as "radical Islamists," along with a sixth man who helped get them weapons, were charged in May 2007 in a plot to attack a U.S. Army base in Fort Dix, N.J.
 
Officials later admitted the men had no apparent connection to any terrorist organization. The Washington Post writes:
 
At the same time, a 26-page indictment unsealed Tuesday indicates that the group had no rigorous military training and did not appear close to being able to pull off an attack. The arrests in the case began Monday night after two defendants arrived at a local home to buy assault weapons, which had been supplied and disabled by the FBI, officials said.
 
"Obviously, these guys had some radical beliefs and the stuff they downloaded from the Web was very serious," said a law enforcement source close to the case, speaking to The Washington Post. "But it's not like they were going to be able to get rocket-propelled grenades and blow things up."
 
What's more, the case relied on the controversial use of paid informants, one of whom had a notable criminal past, and the other who undermined the case (to no avail) by admitting in court that at least two of the suspects later jailed for life had no knowledge of the supposed plot.
 
A federal jury found five of the six alleged plotters guilty of conspiracy to commit murder but cleared them of attempted murder.
 
***
 
Perhaps the most extreme case of the FBI setting up potential terrorists involved the "Newburgh Four."
 
On May 20, 2009, law enforcement arrested four black Muslim men in connection with a bombing plot in the Bronx, and an attack on military aircraft in Newburgh, N.Y.
 
The men had set explosives in cars outside of local synagogues, and obtained a missile launcher to take down planes, but their plan was disrupted before it happened.
 
Although all the weapons the men used were fakes obtained from FBI agents, it certainly seemed like a slam-dunk case.
 
But The Guardian reports a stark difference between this group and other terrorists:
 
... far from being active militants, the four men [the FBI informant] attracted were impoverished individuals struggling with Newburgh's grim epidemic of crack, drug crime and poverty. One had mental issues so severe his apartment contained bottles of his own urine. He also believed Florida was a foreign country.
 
At one point during the sting, James Cromitie, the leader of the four-man group, reportedly tried to thwart the plan himself.
 
For weeks, he pretended to leave Newburgh to avoid his terrorist contact Hussain (a paid FBI informant). He stopped going to the mosque, and ignored Hussain's phone calls and voice mails. He even went so far as to pretend not to be in when he showed up at his house.
 
The Guardian reports:
 
Only when Cromitie lost his job, and became desperate for money, did he contact Hussain again. "I told you, I can make you $250,000, but you don't want it, brother," Hussain told him.
 
Now Cromitie agreed and set about finding lookouts. "Ok, f--- it. I don't care. Ah, man. Maqsood, you got me," he said, using Hussain's fake name.
 
A quick $250,000 seemed rather enticing to the four men living in poverty. After their arrest and trial, they were given a minimum 25-year sentence, but even the judge lambasted the government's handling of the case, according to the New York Daily News:
 
"The essence of what occurred here is that a government understandably zealous to protect its citizens from terrorism came upon a man both bigoted and suggestible, one who was incapable of committing an act of terrorism on his own," McMahon said, referring to Cromitie.
 
And although Judge Colleen McMahan would reject Cromitie's claims of entrapment, she still called the FBI's handling of the case a "fantasy terror operation," as The New York Times reported:
 
“Only the government could have made a ‘terrorist’ out of Mr. Cromitie, whose buffoonery is positively Shakespearean in its scope."
 
***
 
The arrests and convictions of men who didn't have the means to conduct an attack without FBI help certainly raises ethical questions. While they have been able to stop actual threats — it seems that in some other cases, the line between real and contrived has often blurred.
 
Some defense attorneys agree, as CBS News later reported:
 
"When the government supplies a fake bomb and then thwarts the plot, this is insanity. This is grandstanding," said Susanne Brody, one of the defense attorneys for another terror case in Portland, Ore.
 
"The people they repeatedly come up with continue to be people who have no ability to do something on their own," said Samuel Braverman, a defense attorney in the Newburgh case.
 
In spending all of this time concocting terrorist plots, the FBI may be wasting resources and ignoring the real threats. As one terrorism analyst at Stanford University writes, the priority for Islamic fighters now is actually to expel Westerners from their lands, not attack them in their own:
 
Many assume that jihadists all want to attack the West, and that those who leave do so for training. I argue the opposite, namely, that most Western jihadists prefer foreign fighting, but a minority attacks at home after being radicalized, most often through foreign fighting or contact with a veteran.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-fbi-hatched-some-crazy-terror-plots-2013-3#ixzz2NGovVZJl

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #1044 on: March 15, 2013, 07:20:54 PM »
National Security Letter Gag Orders Struck Down As Unconstitutional


Posted: 03/15/2013 6:01 pm EDT  |  Updated: 03/15/2013 6:17 pm EDT


NEW YORK -- Concluding that they suffer from "significant constitutional infirmities," a federal district court judge in San Francisco on Thursday struck down sections of federal law that allow the FBI to warrantlessly obtain private information under a gag order in the name of national security.

But U.S. District Judge Susan Illston temporarily put her order on hold to allow the government to appeal her decision, recognizing that a higher court should first be able to "consider the weighty questions of national security and First Amendment rights" at issue in the case. The authority of national security letters, government orders to communications providers to reveal user information, was vastly expanded in the post-9/11 Patriot Act. The federal government has made wide use of them in the name of the fight against terrorism.

In May 2011, the non-profit Electronic Frontier Foundation brought a lawsuit against the national security letter statutes on behalf of an unnamed telephone service provider, arguing that placing the company under a gag order violated its First Amendment rights. EFF also argued that the 2005 renewal of the Patriot Act provided too little judicial review for the secret letters.

Illston's ruling vindicated EFF's arguments.

"Basically the court declared the national security letter statute unconstitutional on the grounds that it improperly gagged the recipients," said Cindy Cohn, the group's legal director. "Nothing changes in the short term, but it's a very strong ruling."

Because the government still has 90 days to appeal the ruling while it is on hold, Cohn is still not able to reveal her client's name. Reporting by The Wall Street Journal has suggested, however, that it may be the progressive phone provider Credo.

"The recipients of the national security letters, there's only been a couple that have been willing to challenge it," Cohn said. "It's sad for me that my client can't talk about this, because I think they're the heroes."

Dean Boyd, a spokesman for the national security division of the U.S. Department of Justice, said “we’re reviewing the judge’s order.”

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York had previously invalidated some aspects of the national security letters statutes, but the California court found that it should have struck down the relevant statutes wholesale.

National security letters have been under renewed scrutiny recently. Earlier this month, Google revealed that the federal government has asked for data on thousands of its users over the past four years.

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #1045 on: March 18, 2013, 11:04:12 AM »
The FBI Goes To Disturbing Lengths To Set Up Potential Terrorists
 
Paul Szoldra|16 minutes ago|4|

AP


 
James Cromitie, center, is led by police officers from a federal building in New York after being arrested for plotting to bomb New York synagogues and shoot down military aircraft.
 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has busted an impressive number of homegrown terror plots over the past decade, but many people don't realize how these plots materialize. In some cases, they are hatched not from a cave-dwelling fanatic, but actually from the Bureau itself.
 
Ever since 9/11, the task of thwarting terrorist plots has consumed the majority of the FBI's budget — $3.3 billion compared to $2.6 billion for organized crime, according to Mother Jones.
 
The once exclusively investigative bureau has morphed into a counterterrorism agency, with field agents tapping into a nationwide network of informants that infiltrate mainly-Muslim communities.
 
The FBI targets the "disgruntled few" who would participate in a terrorist plot if given the opportunity, according to Mother Jones. In many cases, the FBI recruits potential terrorists and provides them with plans, equipment, and weapons — before finally shutting them down and getting credit for thwarting another attack.
 
***
 
One example surfaced in December 2005, when the FBI arrested Michael Curtis Reynolds after he tried to meet an FBI informant whom he believed to be an al Qaeda contact. Authorities said he expected to receive $40,000 to finance an alleged plot to blow up pipelines and refineries, according to Fox News.
 
The charges and his later conviction stemmed mostly from online conversations he was having with a Montana judge (and FBI informant) he believed was a terrorist leader.
 
But would Reynolds have gone that far on his own? An FBI official speaking to Fox News on condition of anonymity said "that the agency has since concluded that Reynolds might be mentally ill and not as serious a threat as originally believed."
 
***
 
Another case in May 2007 involved men who certainly weren't fans of the United States, but had scarce means of carrying out an attack.
 
Five foreign-born men, described by federal authorities as "radical Islamists," along with a sixth man who helped get them weapons, were charged in May 2007 in a plot to attack a U.S. Army base in Fort Dix, N.J.
 
Officials later admitted the men had no apparent connection to any terrorist organization. The Washington Post writes:
 
At the same time, a 26-page indictment unsealed Tuesday indicates that the group had no rigorous military training and did not appear close to being able to pull off an attack. The arrests in the case began Monday night after two defendants arrived at a local home to buy assault weapons, which had been supplied and disabled by the FBI, officials said.
 
"Obviously, these guys had some radical beliefs and the stuff they downloaded from the Web was very serious," said a law enforcement source close to the case, speaking to The Washington Post. "But it's not like they were going to be able to get rocket-propelled grenades and blow things up."
 
What's more, the case relied on the controversial use of paid informants, one of whom had a notable criminal past, and the other who undermined the case (to no avail) by admitting in court that at least two of the suspects later jailed for life had no knowledge of the supposed plot.
 
A federal jury found five of the six alleged plotters guilty of conspiracy to commit murder but cleared them of attempted murder.
 
***
 
Perhaps the most extreme case of the FBI setting up potential terrorists involved the "Newburgh Four."
 
On May 20, 2009, law enforcement arrested four black Muslim men in connection with a bombing plot in the Bronx, and an attack on military aircraft in Newburgh, N.Y.
 
The men had set explosives in cars outside of local synagogues, and obtained a missile launcher to take down planes, but their plan was disrupted before it happened.
 
Although all the weapons the men used were fakes obtained from FBI agents, it certainly seemed like a slam-dunk case.
 
But The Guardian reports a stark difference between this group and other terrorists:
 
... far from being active militants, the four men [the FBI informant] attracted were impoverished individuals struggling with Newburgh's grim epidemic of crack, drug crime and poverty. One had mental issues so severe his apartment contained bottles of his own urine. He also believed Florida was a foreign country.
 
At one point during the sting, James Cromitie, the leader of the four-man group, reportedly tried to thwart the plan himself.
 
For weeks, he pretended to leave Newburgh to avoid his terrorist contact Hussain (a paid FBI informant). He stopped going to the mosque, and ignored Hussain's phone calls and voice mails. He even went so far as to pretend not to be in when he showed up at his house.
 
The Guardian reports:
 
Only when Cromitie lost his job, and became desperate for money, did he contact Hussain again. "I told you, I can make you $250,000, but you don't want it, brother," Hussain told him.
 
Now Cromitie agreed and set about finding lookouts. "Ok, f--- it. I don't care. Ah, man. Maqsood, you got me," he said, using Hussain's fake name.
 
A quick $250,000 seemed rather enticing to the four men living in poverty. After their arrest and trial, they were given a minimum 25-year sentence, but even the judge lambasted the government's handling of the case, according to the New York Daily News:
 
"The essence of what occurred here is that a government understandably zealous to protect its citizens from terrorism came upon a man both bigoted and suggestible, one who was incapable of committing an act of terrorism on his own," McMahon said, referring to Cromitie.
 
And although Judge Colleen McMahan would reject Cromitie's claims of entrapment, she still called the FBI's handling of the case a "fantasy terror operation," as The New York Times reported:
 
“Only the government could have made a ‘terrorist’ out of Mr. Cromitie, whose buffoonery is positively Shakespearean in its scope."
 
***
 
The arrests and convictions of men who didn't have the means to conduct an attack without FBI help certainly raises ethical questions. While they have been able to stop actual threats — it seems that in some other cases, the line between real and contrived has often blurred.
 
Some defense attorneys agree, as CBS News later reported:
 
"When the government supplies a fake bomb and then thwarts the plot, this is insanity. This is grandstanding," said Susanne Brody, one of the defense attorneys for another terror case in Portland, Ore.
 
"The people they repeatedly come up with continue to be people who have no ability to do something on their own," said Samuel Braverman, a defense attorney in the Newburgh case.
 
In spending all of this time concocting terrorist plots, the FBI may be wasting resources and ignoring the real threats. As one terrorism analyst at Stanford University writes, the priority for Islamic fighters now is actually to expel Westerners from their lands, not attack them in their own:
 
Many assume that jihadists all want to attack the West, and that those who leave do so for training. I argue the opposite, namely, that most Western jihadists prefer foreign fighting, but a minority attacks at home after being radicalized, most often through foreign fighting or contact with a veteran.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-fbi-hatched-some-crazy-terror-plots-2013-3#ixzz2NGovVZJl


This is quite a weak point in the scam.  The fact that "we" have to set things up for "the criminals" we "find", should tell everyone what's really happening.  It should raise a certain flag, very high.

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #1046 on: March 18, 2013, 11:07:17 AM »
Yeah, this shit is absolutely mad.  Crazy.

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #1047 on: March 18, 2013, 11:10:45 AM »
The scam relies upon the manufacturing of crime.  Good people should be furious. 


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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #1048 on: March 18, 2013, 08:15:45 PM »

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Re: Police State - Official Thread
« Reply #1049 on: March 18, 2013, 08:16:39 PM »
The Obama administration is demanding the nation’s two biggest shipping companies police the contents of Americans’ sealed packages, and a FedEx spokesman is warning that the move “has the potential to threaten the privacy of all customers that send or receive packages.”

FedEx and UPS are in the Justice Department’s cross-hairs for not flagging shipments of illegally prescribed drugs the companies say they had no way of knowing were in their possession.

Criminal charges could be coming against the carriers, even though the government has not alleged any deliberate wrongdoing by the companies.

FedEx spokesman Patrick Fitzgerald said his company has a 40-year history of actively assisting the government crackdown on any criminal conduct, but he told WND this probe was very different from the start.

“What is unusual and really disturbing is it became clear to us along the way that FedEx was being targeted for some level criminal activity as it relates to these medicines that are being shipped from pharmacies, and we find it to be completely absurd because it’s really not our role,” Fitzgerald said. “We have no way of knowing what is legal and not within the packages that we’re picking up and delivering in this situation.”

“At the heart of the investigation are sealed packages that are being sent by, as far as we can tell, licensed pharmacies. These are medicines with legal prescriptions written by licensed physicians. So it’s difficult for us to understand where we would have some role in this. We are a transportation company that picks up and delivers close to 10 million packages every day. They are sealed packages, so we have no way of knowing specifically what’s inside and we have no interest in violating the privacy rights of our customers,” Fitzgerald said.

In addition to the unrealistic expectation that the federal government seems to have for the companies to know what’s in every package, Fitzgerald said protecting the rights of customers is paramount and the issues go hand-in-hand.

“They clearly are attempting to put some responsibility for the legality of the contents of these packages. That’s why for us it goes far beyond even just the online pharmacy situation. This really has a chilling effect. It has the potential to threaten the privacy of all customers that send or receive packages via FedEx because the government is assigning a role on us as law enforcement or taking on their role in a way that is not appropriate,” Fitzgerald said.

FedEx sought to diffuse the standoff by offering to stop doing business with any pharmacies that the government suspected to be involved in illegal activities. The Justice Department declined, citing the potential for the pharmacies to sue over a lack of due process.

“If the government were to come to us and give us the name of a customer that’s engaged in some level of illegal activity, we can immediately stop shipping for that customer. We will not tolerate any illegal activity within our networks,” Fitzgerald said. “What we want here is a solution that will apply for the entire industry and serve the public’s interest. That’s why we find it completely absurd and, to a large degree, stunning that the government is not working with us on that solution as they have with other problems in the past. As long as they’re not doing that, there’s really no solution even if they were to pursue an investigation or criminal charges against a specific company. There needs to be an industry-wide solution that will put a stop to this problem.”

That leaves FedEx and UPS with the task of stopping illegal shipments from sources the government will not divulge.

“The comparison that we’ve made is a no-fly list. It’s as if the government were to go to major commercial airlines and accuse them of some level of criminal activity if they were to allow somebody on the no-fly list onto one of their planes without providing them a no-fly list,” Fitzgerald said. “What we want here is the no-fly list for online pharmacies. If they are aware of some level of illegal activity by some number of pharmacies, simply provide us that list and we will stop providing service. It’s a very simple solution.”

Fitzpatrick said no other private carriers are being targeted by the Justice Department, and he has no evidence to suggest this probe is designed to boost the financially strapped U.S. Postal Service at the expense of private competitors.

UPS is currently negotiating a settlement with the government, but FedEx is fighting this all the way.

“Settlement is not an option for us when there’s no illegal activity on our part,” Fitzpatrick said.