Tag: Shut Up Slave

American Freedom

I really do enjoy the people who continue to say that United States isn’t a police state. You have to admire somebody who can perform such blatant acts of cognitive dissonance without instantly suffering from a mental breakdown. After all, nothing says not a police state like having a quarter of your population arrested:

We’ve heard a lot of talk lately about mass incarceration, the stop-and-frisk policies in New York, reforming the drug laws, and mandatory minimum sentencing. There’s also been discussion about over-criminalization — that we have too many laws, too broadly enforced — from groups as ideologically diverse as the Heritage Foundation, the ACLU, the Cato Institute, and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

But here’s a related statistic that’s pretty mind blowing in and of itself: According to the FBI, in 2011 there were 3991.1 arrests for every 100,000 people living in America. That means over the course of a single year, one in 25 Americans was arrested.

While that statistic doesn’t tell the whole story, as each arrest of the same person is counted separately in the raw numbers, it does tell a frightening one nonetheless. The fact that there have been, on average, 399.1 arrests for every 100,000 people is insane. If such a statistic doesn’t prove that this country has too many laws on the books I don’t know what can.

Bradley Manning Facing Over a Century in a Cage for Doing the Right Thing

The who trial of Bradly Manning finally concluded yesterday. Manning was acquitted of the most severe charge, aiding the enemy, but was found guilty of 19 other charges:

FORT MEADE, Md. — Bradley Manning, the Army intelligence analyst who laid bare America’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan by covertly transmitting a massive trove of sensitive government documents to WikiLeaks, has been convicted on 19 of 21 charges, including 6 counts of espionage. He was found not guilty of aiding the enemy, the most serious and controversial charge laid against him.

[…]

Manning now faces up to 136 years in prison on his convictions.

Over a century in a cage for revealing the war crimes? The message being sent by the state is quite clear. While the state can intercept and listen to our phone calls, collect and read our e-mails, keep records of our purchases, and otherwise collect intelligence on us without our knowledge the agreement isn’t reciprocal. Or, to put it more succinctly:


Image courtesy of the Punk Rock Libertarians Facebook page.

The state wants to maintain tabs on every person but will throw anybody who attempts to maintain tabs on it into a cage for the rest of their miserable life. Charges of cowardice were aimed at Edward Snowden when he fled the country but Manning’s trial demonstrates that Snowden did the smart thing. Staying in the United States after revealing its misdeeds is a recipe for disaster.

The State’s Continuing War with Liberty

The state has always been at war with Eurasia Eastasia liberty but it has seldom been as overt as it is today:

The New Hampshire Union Leader reports on the desire of Concord, NH, police to get all militaried up with Bearcat armored SWAT vehicles, paid for by the federal Department of Homeland Security, natch.

Excerpts:

[…]

In its grant application to DHS, the police department said New Hampshire’s experience with terrorism “slants primarily towards the domestic type,” and said “the threat is real and here.”

“Groups such as the Sovereign Citizens, Free Staters and Occupy New Hampshire are active and present daily challenges,” the application stated. In addition to organized groups, it cited “several homegrown clusters that are anti-government and pose problems for law enforcement agencies.”

Emphasis mine. The groups rattled off in the application tend to be extremely peaceful. The Free Staters are especially peaceful and their shenanigans can best be described as acts of peaceful civil disobedience. What’s laughable is the claim that the mentioned organizations haven’t caused problems for law enforcement agencies. If a law enforcement agency; all of which are already armed with squad cards, rifles, handguns, pepper spray, batons, and other weapons; are currently having problem with anti-government organizations then a Bearcat isn’t going to change anything. Bearcats, although impressive looking, aren’t likely to intimidate individuals who oppose the state if the current implements held by police agencies haven’t.

I doubt this application has anything to do with the Free Staters, Occupiers, or any other anti-state organization. The Concord police department want more toys because they’re jealous that everybody else has them. What’s worrisome is that police agencies with new toys always feel the need to use them, which is how innocent people get hurt or killed. I’m sure the application will go through and the Concord police will have a shiny Bearcat to call their own but, for the sake of everybody’s safety, I really hope it doesn’t.

Being a Member of the Protected Class

There are numerous protected classes in the United States. Police officers have a great deal of protection from the consequences of their wrongdoings, politicians have almost complete immunity from prosecution, and large corporations are generally protected from bankruptcy. Once protected class managed to fly under the radar in most cases, bankers. Bankers have an insurmountable number of legal immunities, include an immunity from laws against counterfeiting. But this story really takes the cake:

An Vinton County woman is looking to get her belongings back after a bank incorrectly broke into her house and took them.

Katie Barnett says that the First National Bank in Wellston foreclosed on her house, even though it was not her bank.

“They repossessed my house on accident, thinking it was the house across the street,” Barnett said.

Barnett, who had been away from the house for about two weeks, said she had to crawl through the window of her own house in order to get in after she used her own key that did not work.

Some of the items in her house had been hauled away, others were sold, given away and trashed.

It turns out the bank sent someone to repossess the house located across the street from Barnett’s house, but by mistake broke into hers instead.

“They told me that the GPS led them to my house,” Barnett said. “My grass hadn’t been mowed and they just assumed.”

She called the McArthur Police about the incident, but weeks later, the chief announced the case was closed.

By failing to make a serious investigation, the McArthur Police Department demonstrated that bankers can break into a home, steal and sell the possessions within, and not suffer any consequences so long as they claim that they had the wrong address. Meanwhile, a woman’s life is in ruin and she is unlikely to get justice because her aggressor is legally protected.

Shit like this, along with the fact much of what the bankers have done recently was only made possible by their special privileges granted by the state, is why I have no sympathy for bankers trying to repossess homes with underwater mortgages.

The Tyrant of New York City Continues His Power Trip

Michael Bloomberg is famous in the gun rights community due to his zealous advocacy of gun control. As his reign in New York City continues Bloomberg’s insanity is becoming more obvious to people outside of the gun rights community. A bill was recently introduce in New York City that was supposed to curtail the New York Police Department’s (NYPD) practice of stopping people and frisking them (I’m sure it’s only coincidental that a vast majority of the individuals stopped by NYPD are people whose skin color is anything darker than off-white). Bloomberg didn’t like the idea because it got in the way of his power trip so he put the kibosh on it:

Two politically charged New York City bills to rein in the NYPD’s use of controversial stop-and-frisk tactics were vetoed Tuesday by Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

He slammed both bills — one to create an NYPD inspector general and another to allow people to sue over racial profiling by cops — as a boon to criminals and terrorists.

The “dangerous and irresponsible” measures “would make New Yorkers less safe,” he wrote in his veto message.

There is some good news though:

The bills appear to have enough support in the City Council to override the mayor’s vetoes, but Bloomberg has mounted a blitz to block the racial-profiling bill, which passed with 34 votes — exactly the number needed to override a veto.

Although I wouldn’t put it past Bloomberg to arrange for one of his opponents in the City Council to have an “accident.” The man is obviously insane and as his reign comes to an end (he can’t run for mayor of New York City again unless the city’s term limit laws are changed) he’s becoming more and more unstable.

Even Journalists Must Bow to the State

How many times have you been told that the United States offers the most press freedom and journalist protections in the world? It’s bullshit, of course. If the press was really free journalists would be able to maintain the anonymity of their sources because the right of free speech should also include the right to keep quiet. Here in Soviet America a journalist only has the right to remain silent when the state says so:

WASHINGTON — In a major ruling about press freedoms, a divided federal appeals court on Friday ruled that James Risen, an author and reporter for The New York Times, must testify in the criminal trial of a former Central Intelligence Agency official charged with providing him with classified information.
National Twitter Logo.

In a 118-page set of opinions, two members of a three-judge panel for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Richmond, Va. — the court whose decisions cover the Pentagon and the C.I.A. — ruled that the First Amendment provides no protection to reporters who receive unauthorized leaks from being forced to testify against the alleged sources who leaked to them.

If you’re a journalist who is pushing the state’s agenda you can be reasonably assured that your rights will be protected. If you’re a journalist who isn’t towing the company line you can be reasonably assured that your rights will be violated.

Rules are for Thee, Not for Me

Here’s another entry into the rules are for thee, not for me. The governor of Iowa was clocked at 84 miles per hour. If you were I were to exceed the arbitrarily created speed limit in such a fashion we would face a very large fine and possibly have our automobile confiscated. Things turn out a little differently when you’re a high ranking member of the political elite:

Special Agent in Charge Larry Hedlund observed the SUV of Governor Terry Branstad going nearly 90 MPH on the highway. He was in a state owned vehicle, but called for an on-duty officer to pursue. Another officer clocked the SUV at 84 MPH, but didn’t pull them over once he saw that another trooper was driving.

Hedlund complained to superiors about the incident and how it could have endangered public safety. Soon after, Hedlund was put on paid leave for an alleged rules violation, that being the use of a state-owned vehicle while off duty.

Hedlund was just fired after a two and a half month investigation this week. He was part of the Iowa police for 25 years. Hedlund says that the firing definitely had nothing to do with the alleged rules violation and was absolutely about calling for a pursuit of the Governor.

For those of you working for the state’s enforcement arm let this be a lesson; if you even think about crossing your masters you will be put down. It would also be wise for those of us in the serf class to ignore the wrongdoings of our manor lords because reporting their shenanigans will likely result in us being kidnapped and held in a cage.

Remember, all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.

Adam Kokesh Arrested Again

Adam Kokesh is an interesting man. First he calls for an armed march on Washington DC, then he cancels it, then he went anyways. While he was rather inconsistent about the entire march I must admit that he has brass balls for venturing into the city of the damned with a gun in defiance of the law. Not surprisingly, he was arrested:

Police searched the Northern Virginia home of libertarian activist Adam Kokesh Tuesday evening and took him into custody, according to a news release posted on Kokesh’s Web site.

Kokesh, a former Marine, was held overnight at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center, charged with possession of schedule I and II drugs while in possession of a firearm, said Lt. Steve Elbert, a spokesman for the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office. No additional details were immediately available.

The search warrant was served by U.S. Park Police, a federal agency that is responsible for policing Freedom Plaza, the concrete park on Pennsylvania Avenue NW where in a video Kokesh appears to load a shotgun, in violation of D.C. gun laws.

Kokesh’s arrest demonstrates that rules are for thee, not for me. When David Gregory illegally possessed a standard capacity AR-15 magazine on national television he go off scot free because he was promoting the statist agenda. Meanwhile Adam Kokesh illegally possessed a shotgun and was arrested because he wasn’t promoting the statist agenda.

What Kokesh’s arrest really demonstrates is how arbitrarily laws are enforced in Washington DC. If you’re being an obedience serf you can get away with breaking the law but if you’re being a disobedience rabble-rouser you will be kidnapped and locked in a cage.

Police Open Fire Because They Mistook a Cell Phone for a Gun

Advocates of gun control want to grant a monopoly on gun ownership to the state. If they managed to get their way people like this would be the only individuals who could either own guns or determine who can own guns:

Las Vegas police responded to a call of a suicidal man who pulled out a cell phone and pointed it at them, perhaps to record them, prompting an officer to shoot at him.

The officer missed but the man fell to the ground anyway where police arrested him.

“The individual reached into his pocket, he pulled out a dark object, pointed it at the sergeant in a manner like he would be firing a pistol,” explained Deputy Chief Al Salinas of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department in the above video.

Thank Odin that police officers are notoriously bad shots. Unfortunately they’re also very bad at determining whether or not an object in somebody’s hand is a weapon or not. Personally, I’ve never mistook a cell phone for a firearm before and when somebody pulls out a cell phone and points it at me my first assumption is that they’re recording me.

We all know how this case will turn out, the officers who opened fire will be given a paid vacation until this fiasco blows over. After the media is done covering the incident the officers will be cleared of any wrongdoing and will return to the streets where they can open fire on another unarmed person. Meanwhile the person who was shot at will likely be charged:

The man, who has not been identified, will most likely be charged with assault with a deadly weapon as well as battery with a deadly weapon because prior to the shooting, he had been throwing landscaping rocks at the officers, according to Salinas.

Welcome to America.

Obama the Jackass

Obama is proving to be one of the biggest jackasses in presidential history (and that’s quite an accomplishment when you look at the other presidents this country has suffered). Take the speech he recently made in Johannesburg, South Africa. During the speech Obama stated:

“Ultimately, if you think about all the youth that everybody has mentioned here in Africa, if everybody is raising living standards to the point where everybody has got a car and everybody has got air conditioning, and everybody has got a big house, well, the planet will boil over — unless we find new ways of producing energy,” Obama said.

Translation: Unless we find a new way of producing energy the people of Africa are just going to have to suffer toils that today are seldom faced by their American and European brethren.

This is another one of those “for me, not thee” statements. Obama effectively told the people of South Africa that they can’t enjoy the same standards of living as Western civilizations because if they do the world will literally end. If Obama is the spokesperson for the United States it’s no surprise that a good chunk of the world hates us.