Category: Corruption Corner

A New Way to Bypass the Fourth Amendment

We’ve witnessed the Fourth Amendment’s inability to protect privacy with the recent National Security Agency’s (NSA) surveillance fiasco. But sometimes the state likes to create a good deal of legal justifications for its willful violation of our privacy. North Carolina has found a clever way of searing vehicles while ignore people’s Fourth Amendment privileges (because let’s not kid ourselves, the Bill or Right is now a set of privileges), hire private security officers to do the searching:

Security guard Brett Hunter received no training as to estimating speed or handling drunk drivers, but he was tasked with issuing speeding tickets to people driving through the community. When Hunter saw Weaver’s Acura through his rearview mirror, he guessed that the car was traveling at 25 MPH in a 15 MPH zone. He turned on his flashing lights and forced Weaver to pull over.

“I’m Officer Hunter from Metro Public Safety,” Hunter said as he asked Weaver for his driver’s license.

After noticing slurred speech and other signs of intoxication, Hunter ordered Weaver out of the car to sit on the curb while he called the police. Hunter also wrote an HOA speeding ticket. About ten minutes later, a university police officer arrived, only to realize she lacked jurisdiction. Thirty-five minutes into the traffic stop, a Wilmington Police Detective arrived, confirmed the signs of intoxication and took Weaver into custody for driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI),

At trial, New Hanover County Superior Court Judge W. Allen Cobb Jr found the security guard was acting under the authority of the state and therefore was bound to the same reasonable suspicion standard that applies to police officers conducting a traffic stop.

“His show of apparent lawful authority (flashing lights, uniform, badge, and gun) intimidated defendant and made him feel compelled to wait outside his car for 45 minutes until WPD arrived,” Judge Cobb found.

The appellate panel rejected this reasoning, arguing that rental cops are not bound by such restrictions.

“A traffic stop conducted entirely by a nonstate actor is not subject to reasonable suspicion because the Fourth Amendment does not apply,” Judge Rick Elmore wrote for the appellate panel.

The first problem with this case is that the “officer” pulled over the individual for speeding even though he had no equipment to determine the driver’s speed. That alone should have rendered the entire encounter unlawful and got the case thrown out. But it appears that rental cops aren’t abound by the same laws as state cops are. This creates an interesting problem. What would happen if an actual cop had a rental cop ride along during patrols? If the actual cop pulled somebody over and sent the rental cop to deal with the actual encounter would the driver’s Fourth Amendment privileges be rendered irrelevant? Could actual cops send rental cops out to violate people’s so-called rights in other cases? How far can rental cops go?

This ruling is worrisome in that it creates another loophole to get around people’s privacy. And if history is any indicator we know that the state will abuse every single loophole it creates for itself.

A Total Lack of Accountability

I believe one of the biggest problems with modern policing, besides the job description, is the almost complete lack of accountability. We see this whenever an officer is accused of using unnecessary force and receives a paid vacation. But some of the ways cops are unaccountable go unnoticed. For example, if police officers negligently shoot a bystander in response to a 911 call the perpetrator can be charged with the shootings:

An unarmed, emotionally disturbed man shot at by the police as he was lurching around traffic near Times Square in September has been charged with assault, on the theory that he was responsible for bullet wounds suffered by two bystanders, according to an indictment unsealed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan on Wednesday.

The theory goes that the perpetrator was responsible because he caused the situation. It’s a bullshit excuse. Consider a slightly different situation. Let’s say you’re at home one night and somebody breaks in your back door. The man is armed so you grab a rifle and fire at him. Now let’s assume the worst and say that one of your rounds exits your house and hits one of your neighbors. In all likelihood you’ll face a civil lawsuit for negligently hitting your neighbor. Even if you’re legally in the right you will still face the expenses involve of merely being accused of wrongdoing.

Cops, as the state’s enforcers, are imbued with special privileges. They can break the law in pursuit of enforcing the state’s decrees. These special privileges mean police officers are unaccountable. Even when they do something illegal they generally have department lawyers that are paid with tax money to deal with the legal aftermath. Without accountability it’s easy to see how modern policing has become little more than thuggery with a state issued costume.

The NSA is Tracking Cellular Phone Locations Around the World

I’m sure this isn’t going to surprise anybody. On top of reading our e-mails and text messages, listening to our phone calls, and attempting to decrypt our encryption communications the National Security Agency (NSA) has been busy tracking our location using our voluntary tracking device (often mistakenly referred to as a cellular phone):

The National Security Agency is gathering nearly 5 billion records a day on the whereabouts of cellphones around the world, according to top-secret documents and interviews with U.S. intelligence officials, enabling the agency to track the movements of individuals — and map their relationships — in ways that would have been previously unimaginable.

The records feed a vast database that stores information about the locations of at least hundreds of millions of devices, according to the officials and the documents, which were provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. New projects created to analyze that data have provided the intelligence community with what amounts to a mass surveillance tool.

At this point I feel that it’s safe to assume that the NSA has utilized every technology we use in our daily lives to inflict an Orwellian world upon us. It’s obvious that the people in charge of the agency have no conscious whatsoever. Anybody with a conscious would have objected to at least a few of the activities the NSA has been involved in. In fact things are so bad at the NSA that it gave its employees talking points so they could justify their actions to their family members during Thanksgiving.

The NSA Knows What Kind of Kinky Shit You’re Into

Agents of the National Security Agency (NSA) must either be desperate to find new porn or to blackmail dissidents. Thanks to that wonderful man, Edward Snowden, we have learned that the NSA has been peeping on the porn habits of political dissidents for the expressed purpose of assassinating their characters:

WASHINGTON — The National Security Agency has been gathering records of online sexual activity and evidence of visits to pornographic websites as part of a proposed plan to harm the reputations of those whom the agency believes are radicalizing others through incendiary speeches, according to a top-secret NSA document. The document, provided by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, identifies six targets, all Muslims, as “exemplars” of how “personal vulnerabilities” can be learned through electronic surveillance, and then exploited to undermine a target’s credibility, reputation and authority.

The NSA document, dated Oct. 3, 2012, repeatedly refers to the power of charges of hypocrisy to undermine such a messenger. “A previous SIGINT” — or signals intelligence, the interception of communications — “assessment report on radicalization indicated that radicalizers appear to be particularly vulnerable in the area of authority when their private and public behaviors are not consistent,” the document argues.

This strategy may be effective against religious activists but most of the political dissidents I know are very comfortable with their sexuality and kinks. In fact they’re usually very open about what they’re into, which renders this strategy irrelevant. Still, it’s getting downright comical to see how desperate the state is to maintain its power. Next the NSA is probably going to release a report that claims all political dissidents are rabid consumers of child pornography hoping to discredit them. Fortunately, thanks to Mr. Snowden, we’ll known to call bullshit on any such report.

Using the State to Crush Competitors

What do you do when you’re a large pharmaceutical company and some new product comes to market that challenges your supremacy? Get your friends in the state to regulate that competitor out of existence:

This fall, the European Parliament considered new rules regulating e-cigs. E-cigarette manufacturers, of course, lobbied like crazy to block the proposal, and it seems they won. But the drugmakers fought for stricter regulations, for obvious reasons: E-cigarettes compete with prescription drugs that are supposed to help people stop smoking.

GlaxoSmithKline sells Nicorette gum and Johnson & Johnson manufactures nicotine patches. The New York Times reported these companies helped lead “strong opposition” to e-cigarettes.

In the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration is about to announce new proposed rules on e-cigarettes. Big Pharma’s shadow hangs over the rule-making.

It’s a time honored tradition that has been used by monopolists since the beginning of statism. Here in Minnesota there is already talk of regulating e-cigarettes the same as tobacco cigarettes. Why would a far safer alternative be regulated the same as a far more dangerous product? Because the far safer alternative stands to cut into the profits of some very powerful lobbyists and the state is generally quick to protect those that have scratched its back.

Hennepin County Judge Tells Slaves to Shut Up

If you live in Minnesota then you’re aware of the fact that use tax victims have been entered into a dial with the Minnesota Vikings to pay for a new stadium. It’s a pretty sweet deal for the billionaire owner, Zygi Wilf, but a terrible deal for the rest of us. Hell, the people of Minnesota didn’t even get to vote on the matter. This fact was recently challenged in court and, as expected, the judge told the plaintiffs to shut the fuck up and bow down to the glory of their politically well connected masters:

A legal challenge that called for Minneapolis residents to vote on the Vikings stadium subsidy was dismissed today by Hennepin County Judge Philip Bush.

The challenge had been brought in August by Doug Mann, who was one of the 35 candidates running for Minneapolis mayor. He came in 10th last week in the race won by Betsy Hodges.

The decision makes sense. If you let the people who will be forced to pay for a new gladiatorial arena vote on whether or not they actually want to pay for that arena they may decide not to. Therefore it’s far better for the rulers to make the “right” decision and force us to comply with it.

Australia Shows Us How a Police State is Done

Listen up. Our friends down under are showing us how a police state is done. So far the United States government hasn’t sunk to the level of prohibiting people from staying in their homes when an “important” event full of “important” people is taking place in the vicinity. But now that Australia has paved the way I’m sure the United States government will be quick to jump on the bandwagon (after all, if there’s one thing the United States hates it’s being out police stated by another police state):

MASS criminal background checks will be used to find and remove potential troublemakers living near G20 summit venues in Queensland, the state government says.

Police Minister Jack Dempsey says people living inside special security zones in Brisbane and Cairns will be barred from their homes and given up to $200 to stay elsewhere if they are identified as a risk by federal authorities.

The G20 bill, passed by the state parliament late on Tuesday, approved payments covering accommodation for those with a criminal background, plus their dependents.

We’ve witnessed similar behavior recently. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has begun a more widespread program of performing background checks on passengers before they even arrive at the airport. But we haven’t seen a case of the feds performing background checks of people living near an “important” event and kicking any potential troublemakers out of their homes. What we have seen is a propensity for police states to implement the polices of other police states. When Britain, for example, implements a new draconian law the United States has a tendency to pass a similar law. Therefore it shouldn’t surprise anybody if a law passes in the future that prohibits potential troublemakers from living in their homes if “important” people stop by the neighborhood.

Descendants of the British Empire and current members of the Commonwealth of Nations seem determined to turn George Orwell’s 1984 into a nonfiction title.

Minneapolis Looking to Rig Future Mayoral Votes

A lot of people have been bitching about the fact that the Minneapolis mayoral race had 35 candidates. Yes, people were whining because there were too many choices on the ballot. The only reason one would complain about such a thing is because they felt the additional choices would take away votes from their preferred candidate, which is bullshit.

But I decided to do a little kitchen match and see exactly how much of the eligible population of Minneapolis appeared on the ballot. To perform this feat I discovered that the United States Census Bureau is good for something. Here are the democraphic numbers I used to come up with my results.

The population of Minneapolis is approximately 392,880. Of that population approximately 313,518 are 18 years or older. Out of a candidate pool of approximately 313,518 we only had 35 filings at the nominal rate of $20.00. That means that only .01116363335 percent of the eligible population filed.

Even with a filing fee as low as $20.00 only one percent of one percent of eligible people are willing to run for mayor in Minneapolis. I think a vast majority of the people living there realize the position or mayor is pointless or, at least, more pointless than their current positions in life. The problem of “joke” candidates doesn’t seem to be too big of an issue. But that doesn’t matter, somebody besides Republican and Democratic candidates are appearing on the ballot and that means the game has to be rigged:

Less than 24 hours after Minneapolis voters finished hacking through a 35-candidate ballot, the Charter Commission voted unanimously to raise the entry fee from $20 to $500, matching St. Paul’s.

The lower fee, in place for at least 40 years — according to commissioner Lyall Schwarzkopf, who remembered it from when he was city clerk in 1972 — had enabled candidates, in the absence of a primary, to make “a mockery” of recent mayoral elections, said Commissioner Devin Rice.

Making a mockery of the mayoral race? I’m glad somebody is giving the position the respect it deserves. More importantly a mere one percent of one percent of eligible individuals were willing to pay the $20.00 fee required to even mock the position in such a public way. But this has nothing to do with people mocking the position of mayor. The power players are merely upset that the serfs are getting on the ballot. Higher ups in both the Democratic and Republican parties want to have a duopoly on ballots. While they want to allow a nominal number of third party candidates on the ballot to cover up the oligarchy they’ve established, they don’t want more than a handful. Politicians are monopolists after all, they don’t want actual competition.

You’re Not Voting Your Way Out of This

How many times has somebody asked you to vote for one person or another? People still seem to think that we can vote our way out of America’s downward spiral. This is a fairytale. Even if we put aside the fact that the two major political parties have the entire system locked up we still have to face the fact most of the major powers in the political system aren’t elected, they’re appointed. Former lobbyists seem to constantly find their ways positions of power. They go from persuading politicians to pass laws to creating and enforcing regulations themselves. The newest chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), for example, happens to have been employed as a lobbyist for the cable and cellular industries:

Tom Wheeler will take over as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission after receiving unanimous approval by the Senate today.

Wheeler, a venture capitalist and former head of the National Cable Television Association (NCTA) and Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA), was nominated by President Obama in April.

A vote on his confirmation “was delayed for two weeks by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who expressed concern about Wheeler’s views on political disclosure rules,” The Hill reported after tonight’s vote. “Cruz lifted his objection after Wheeler assured him in a private meeting Tuesday that tougher disclosure requirements for the donors behind political TV ads are ‘not a priority’ for him.”

Obviously this doesn’t bode well for companies like Netflix or cheaper cellular competitors. In fact I assume regulations will be created and/or enforced in such a way that companies such as Time Warmer, Comcast, AT&T, and Verizon will become much more powerful while their competitors languish or die off altogether. We’ve seen this story play out a thousand times before and it will most likely play out a few more times before this country collapses under its own regulatory weight.

Let this story be a lesson. The number of elected bureaucrats pales in comparison to the number of unelected bureaucrats within the state.

American Justice

America is supposed to be the land of law and order, at least according to my public school education. A more accurate description of America would be the land of privilege and subjugation. If you’re part of the state you are privileged and able to skirt or outright ignore the law. Everybody else is subjugated to the state’s will at the point of a gun. No more prefect example of this exists than the police office at the University of California Davis who pepper sprayed a peaceful student and was found innocent of all wrongdoing. But this is America, we either go big or go home. Merely clearing the officer of charges wasn’t enough of a disregard for law and order, he had to be given a reward because people were mean to him after he acted like a complete asshole:

Former UC Davis officer John Pike, famous for casually pepper spraying a group of students in the face during a 2011 protest, was awarded a $38,000 settlement for psychiatric injuries for the way he was treated afterwards. Pike, who was eventually fired, filed a workers compensation claim this summer.

It takes balls to pepper spray an innocent student, be cleared of wrongdoing, get fired, and demand workers compensation. In any just society Mr. Pike would be sharing the same fate as any random Joe off of the street would face for pepper spraying another person without reason. Instead he’s given $38,000 as compensation because people were mean to him.

Is there any wonder why I hold no regard for the justice system in this country?