Bill Would Require All S.D. Citizens to Buy a Gun

Five South Dakota lawmakers have introduced legislation that would require any adult 21 or older to buy a firearm “sufficient to provide for their ordinary self-defense.”

The bill, which would take effect Jan. 1, 2012, would give people six months to acquire a firearm after turning 21. The provision does not apply to people who are barred from owning a firearm. Nor does the measure specify what type of firearm. Instead, residents would pick one “suitable to their temperament, physical capacity, and preference.”

The measure is known as an act “to provide for an individual mandate to adult citizens to provide for the self defense of themselves and others.”

Rep. Hal Wick, R-Sioux Falls, is sponsoring the bill and knows it will be killed. But he said he is introducing it to prove a point that the federal health care reform mandate passed last year is unconstitutional.

Source: Click Here for Full Story

WikiLeaks Brings "Patriot Act" to Internet

WikiLeaks Being Used to Justify "Patriot Act" Legislation For The Internet

[Repost] Senator Mitch McConnell called Assange a "high-tech terrorist" on NBC's Meet the Press Sunday and said, "if it‘s found that Assange hasn’t violated the law, then the law should be changed."

Over the weekend, an insightful article by Zen Gardner exposed how WikiLeaks resembles an establishment creation. The article correctly pointed out that the WikiLeaks storyline was conforming nicely to the elite's problem-reaction-solution method, with the solution of more tyranny for our safety.

WikiLeaks is being used to bring in the agenda on so many levels, but most importantly by setting the precedent of shutting down websites for politically "dangerous" content. Gardner writes:

After all, if information is now the enemy, we must carefully police any and every aspect of this dangerous medium -- all for the safety and protection of 'we the people.'

Oh, we’ll still have the Internet, just like you can still fly. You’ll just have to be on the 'approved' list, screened, stamped, zapped, mugged and molested if you want to get 'on the net.' No biggie. Thanks Julian -- job well done.

First, let's be clear, the 250,000 pages of cables amounted to some geopolitical Jerry Springer he-said she-said nonsense to make countries look petty and stupid. They revealed nothing new that wasn't already known or well suspected. The information simply stoked existing flames by airing geopolitical dirty laundry, nothing more -- no secret weapons, no major arms deals, no tactical locations of troops, and no revealing the ID of secret agents, etc.

Yet, the government has used its corporate muscle to illegally limit access to WikiLeaks. It was recently revealed that Amazon, the server host for WikiLeaks, caved to political pressure to drop the website. Then, in dictatorial fashion, PayPal removed its service for donations to WikiLeaks, and now their bank account has been frozen. And all this comes a week after the shutdown of 80-plus websites for "copyright infringement," apparently in preparation for passing the "Blacklist" bill.

Now, Gardner's weekend speculation and McConnell's call for action has turned into political reality. The Hill reports today that Senators unveil anti-WikiLeaks legislation, which seems to be a sort-of "Patriot Act" for the Internet. It's astonishing how fast these guys can write legislation when major events occur. And again, it's tyranny-saurus rex, Joe Lieberman, leading the charge with scandal-ridden Ensign (R-Nev.) and empty-suit Scott Brown (R-Mass.). Ensign was quoted:

WikiLeaks is not a whistleblower website and Assange is not a journalist.

That, we agree with. Yet, therein lies the concern for establishing new Internet rules of what can and can't be discussed, and who qualifies as a "journalist." Look, Assange is clearly either a kinda-smart "useful idiot" or a brilliant insider to the elite. He is certainly not a genuine whistleblower. Admittedly, though, for those of us who hoped he was the real thing, the elite have used some savvy tactics to boost WikiLeaks' rogue credibility in order to confuse us.

The White House has sent down a warning to government agencies to restrict employee access to WikiLeaks in order to make Assange and crew appear dangerously off limits. Apparently, this warning has already trickled down to "potential" government employees as well. It was revealed that the State Department warned Columbia University students who may apply for a Federal job:

DO NOT post links to these documents nor make comments on social media sites such as Facebook or through Twitter.

In other words, the Thought Police are out in full force telling job-hungry students to not apply if they discuss current events if authorities label those events dangerous or harmful to America. Soon, they'll most likely publicly fire a mid-level employee who went over the line to prove how serious they are. After all, they desperately need to keep the slaves on the plantation.

Furthermore, an Interpol arrest warrant has been issued for Julian Assange for shady rape charges, making him an internationally "wanted" man.

And Assange is playing the clever but likable villain part so well, too, claiming to have an encrypted "insurance" file in case anyone kills him or terminates the website. Assange is the perfect international man of mystery with the dark shades in press conferences; endless mainstream media interviews with his exotic accent and short temper; and his famous silver-blond locks. What a great show they're putting on for us. I'm sure the movie industry is already clamoring for the rights to the script.

In the meantime, it has become the typical political game show. Only in America could Cablegate become such a divide-and-conquer partisan issue. The Right have successfully defined WikiLeaks as a dangerous terrorist organization and desire the assassination of its leader, while the Left defends the public's right to knowledge, but disparages the damage the documents may cause, thus setting up the obvious bipartisan compromise: tighter control and surveillance of the Internet.

It will go down like this: the Right's extreme calls for Assange's execution will give the establishment the publicly defensible compromise to at least shut down their website by way of pressuring their service providers, etc. And the wimpy Left will compromise by letting it happen, while Assange will be allowed to remain alive and free.

It fits ever so perfectly for them to extend the definition of an "enemy combatant" to a website that publishes "anti-government" material. Enter Attorney General Eric Holder, who has authorized "significant" action into the probe of WikiLeaks. Can't you just smell the tyranny coming to the Internet?

Ron Paul said it best in his book Revolution: A Manifesto: "Truth is treason in an empire of lies." Paul reiterated this principle of transparency in a recent interview. Paul said we need more WikiLeaks if we expect to live in a free society:

'In a free society we're supposed to know the truth,' Paul insisted. 'In a society where truth becomes treason, then we're in big trouble.'

Given the angry calls for action and today's developments of government proposals, not to mention the blight of Internet legislation already on the table, we will likely get the exact opposite of the free-flow of information that Paul is advocating. In fact, if history is any indicator, get ready for nothing less than the Patriot Act for the Internet!

[Author of this post is Eric Blair]

Tree Lighting Entrapment in Oregon.

Congratulations to the FBI! They have thwarted a bomb plot in Portland, Oregon! Yea! That they created... boo.

Because of the FBI's efforts, Mohamed Osman Mohamud was prevented from igniting a bomb at a Christmas Tree-lighting celebration. However, it was because of the FBI's efforts, that Mr. Mohamud, thought he was going to ignite that bomb in downtown Portland. There were explosives packed inside his van.

The public was never in danger, however, since the "bomb" had been provided to Mr. Mohamud by the FBI. I don't even know if Mr. Mohamed owned the van. That might have been the FBI's too. For all I know it said Flower's By Impulse.

We do know that the FBI did help him test a real bomb once - not at a tree lighting ceremony.

This is called entrapment.

Just like the case in Florida where they 'fooled' a group of morons to bomb the Sears Tower, and another ding-dong into leaving a wringer next to Wrigley Field a couple months back.

As the FBI builds their case by making an angry idiot into a pretend jihadist - are they just securing their job security?

They have given the citizens of Portland Oregon some Performance Art that will encourage them to waive off more of their rights, privacy, and property in the name of public safety.

In the words of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, "The system worked."

Everybody knows the dice are loaded.

The Flower

Black Mustache’s anti-pot-prohibition PSA gets straight to the point by comparing the sticky icky to nondescript flowers that turn anthropomorphized polygons a psychedelic shade of purple.

Ah, how much better the world would be with legal dope. The video is very, nay, extremely simplistic approach to the war on drugs and legal marijuana.

But with Proposition 19 on the November ballot in California, we may soon know whether legal recreational reefer actually turns people a happy shade of purple and increases tax revenue exponentially -

"The Flower," award winning artist Haik Hoisington contrasts a legal marijuana economy with an illegal one, to show how everyone stands to benefit from ending the war on weed. [note that no one is irresponsible, and even take public transportation?]

"The Flower" contrasts a utopian society that freely farms and consumes a pleasure giving flower with a society where the same flower is illegal and its consumption is prohibited. The animation is a meditation on the social and economic costs of marijuana prohibition.

Red Light Cameras Strike Out!

California: Appellate Decision Strikes Down Red Light Camera Evidence

A three-judge appellate panel finds a total lack of evidence from Santa Ana, California red light camera program - hearsay!

Appellate courts in California are becoming increasingly upset at the conduct of cities and photo enforcement vendors. On May 21, a three-judge panel of the California Superior Court, Appellate Division, in Orange County tossed out a red light camera citation in the city of Santa Ana in a way that calls into question the legitimacy of the way red light camera trials are conducted statewide. Previously, a string of brief, unpublished decisions struck at illegal contracts, insufficient notice and other deficiencies. This time, however, the appellate division produced a ten-page ruling and certified it for publication, setting a precedent that applies to the county's three million residents.

"This appeal involves an issue far too often presented to this court, namely the admissibility of evidence and the statutory compliance with the procedures employed by several municipalities in this county in what have come to be known as 'photo enforcement' citations," the unanimous ruling stated.

At trial, attorney R. Allen Baylis objected to the admission of the red light camera photographs because the city had failed to lay a proper foundation for the evidence. The court agreed.

"The photographs contain hearsay evidence concerning the matters depicted in the photograph including the date, time and other information," the ruling summarized. "The person who entered that relevant information into the camera-computer system did not testify. The person who entered that information was not subject to being cross-examined on the underlying source of that information. The person or persons who maintain the system did not testify. No one with personal knowledge testified about how often the system is maintained. No one with personal knowledge testified about how often the date and time are verified or corrected. The custodian of records for the company that contracts with the city to maintain, monitor, store and disperse these photographs did not testify. The person with direct knowledge of the workings of the camera-computer system did not testify."

Santa Ana Police Officer Alan Berg testified in the lower court case, but the appeals panel found his direct knowledge limited.

"This witness testified that sometime in the distant past, he attended a training session where he was instructed on the overall working of the system at the time of the training," the ruling stated. "Here the officer could not establish the time in question, the method of retrieval of the photographs or that any of the photographs or the videotape was a reasonable representation of what it is alleged to portray.... Here, Officer Berg did not qualify as the appropriate witness and did not have the necessary knowledge of underlying workings, maintenance or record keeping of Redflex Traffic System. The foundation for the introduction of the photographs and the underlying workings of the Redflex Traffic System was outside the personal knowledge of Officer Berg."

Lawyers for the city of Santa Ana argued that the evidence should be admitted under the hearsay exemption for official government records. The court rejected this argument because the photographic records were created by a for-profit Australian company, not a state or local government agency.

"Here, the signator of the document, Exhibit #3, states they are employees of the 'Redflex Traffic Systems,'" the ruling stated. "At no point does the signatory state that 'Redflex Traffic Systems' is a public entity or that they are otherwise employed by a public entity. Absent this critical foundation information, the document that they created cannot be and is not an 'official record' under Evidence Code section 1280."

With the evidence inadmissible, the appellate panel found that "there is a total lack of evidence to support the vehicle code violation in question." All charges were dismissed.

A copy of the ruling is available in a 600k PDF file at the source link below.

Source: California v. Khaled (Orange County, California Superior Court, 5/25/2010)

Thanks to The Newspaper for the story!

Immigrants, legal and not

That's great and all, but before I give you a Taco Bell Choco Taco Ice Cream Dessert, let me just say that this whole thing isn't about LEGAL immigration, but in fact - ILLEGAL immigration. I cannot stand by when illegals are referred to as immigrants; It's downright insulting to those individuals that waited and followed the rules... including millions of folks ancestors who played by the rules and also the folks from your country who had to wait six or seven years to be granted legal status.

And frankly, I'm getting sick of the debate about what's going on in AZ, especially by people who haven't read the bill or cared to follow what's been going on there for years, without any action by ineffectual leadership.

But, but, you can get deported for "looking reasonably suspicious".

But you have to break the law first... I suggest you read the actual law and quit quoting journalists who never read it prior to formulating an opinion on it.

Now of course if Rosco P. Coltraine in Phoenix tails you until you perform your typical rolling stop, or have a Mexican flag blocking your rear windshield -- yeah, he's going to take advantage of that and find a legal reason to interact with you. If, after your minor traffic stop, you've come into the country illegally, well, Jésus, you're going to have to go back home.

And this also applies to Polish, and Eastern Europeans, and folks who 'accidentally' over stay a work or academic visa.

Now, the Pew Hispanic Center notes that while the number of legal immigrants (including LPRs, refugees, and asylees) arriving has not varied substantially since the 1980s, the number of illegal aliens has increased dramatically and, since the mid 1990s, has surpassed the number of legal immigrants.

I asked for the Olympics, I got a prison. How's that for being born under a bad sign?

U.S. to Pick Illinois Prison to House Some Guantánamo Detainees

The Obama administration about to announce that it has selected a prison in northwestern Illinois to house terrorism suspects now being held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. It's a big step toward shutting down the military detention facility in Cuba.

Now when we say 'selected' does that mean there really were other bids, or did they just collect the papers and give it to Illinois anyway? How hard was the bidding process there?

An administration official said President Obama had directed the federal government to proceed with acquiring the Thomson Correctional Center, a maximum-security prison in a rural village about 150 miles west of Chicago. Much to the delight of the impoverished state that Mr. Obama left behind.

My guess, on the stage that conducts Illinois political theater, this is a breadcrumb thrown to the cronies in Springfield that hadn't gotten any love from Mr. Obama.

I'd really support this plan if former Governors George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich (when they convict him) get to stay there too.

Heheh heh

Public Support For Marijuana Legalization Reaches All Time High

A new Gallup Poll shows that public support for legalizing marijuana is at a higher level than ever before:

Interesting trend. At this rate, maybe it'll be legal by 2012?