tagged w/ Law
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Cass Sunstein wrote a paper in 2008 advocating thought and speech control through goverment enforcement titled Conspiracy Theories: Causes and Cures.
In it, Sunstein recommends a number of bizarre ways in which the government could "ban conspiracy theories including “infiltrating” social network websites, chat rooms and message boards; called "cognitive infiltration,”
The find comes as a government document reportedly relates the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s command center routinely monitors dozens of popular websites, including Facebook, Twitter, Hulu, WikiLeaks and news sites including the Huffington Post and Drudge Report.
Sunstein said government agents “might enter chat rooms, online social networks, or even real-space groups and attempt to undermine percolating conspiracy theories by raising doubts about their factual premises, causal logic or implications for political action.”
Sunstein defined a conspiracy theory as “an effort to explain some event or practice by reference to the machinations of powerful people, who have also managed to conceal their role.”
Some “conspiracy theories” recommended for ban by Sunstein include:
•“Holocaust denial"
•“Anti-Israel sentiments"
•“9/11 Truth"
•“The theory of global warming is a deliberate fraud”
•“The view that the Central Intelligence Agency was responsible for the assassination of President John F. Kennedy”
•“The 1996 crash of TWA flight 800 was caused by a U.S. military missile”
•“The Trilateral Commission is responsible for important movements of the international economy”
•“That Martin Luther King Jr. was killed by federal agents”
•“The moon landing was staged and never actually occurred”Cass Sunstein wrote a paper in 2008 advocating thought and speech control through... more
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By Stephen C. Webster
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
In an appearance in New Hampshire on Monday, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney reminded voters that he has “personal experience” in hiring undocumented immigrants.
And if that weren’t strange enough, Romney then immediately suggested that he wonders about immigration status every time he hears someone speaking with “an accent.”
“The first priority: get the fence built,” he said, responding to a woman’s question about immigration policy. “At the same time, have an employment verification system so that we know who’s here legally and who’s not here legally. I have personal experience with this. You don’t know who is here legally. You don’t have a way of telling. If someone comes and they, they speak with an accent, you say, ‘Well, are you here legally or illegally?’ And they tell ya — well, how do you know?
“So, I want an employment verification system with a card where it indicates if they’re here legally, if they’re here illegally, what their work status is so you can hire them. If they’re not here legally, you know you don’t hire them. And we need to have that kind of system or we don’t know who’s here legally or not. So, those are the first few things.”
One key problem with Romney’s answer: his handlers probably don’t want him reminding voters that he had a team of undocumented immigrant workers taking care of his lawn for over a year, even after a reporter notified him of their status.
It took two visits by The Boston Globe before Romney decided to fire his former landscaping company — a misstep that has haunted him on the campaign trail.
But Romney’s “personal experience” in paying undocumented immigrants didn’t stop there.
When Romney was CEO of Bain Capital, a venture firm best known for buying up large businesses, selling off their most valuable assets and firing all their workers, he found his company paying illegal workers at a subsidiary in Providence, Rhode Island. Bain-owned Waters Corps. had been employing the services of Aid-Maintenance Co. for cleaning services — and Aid-Maintenance Co. had a long history of hiring undocumented immigrants.
Luckily for Romney, Bain did not own Aid-Maintenance Co., it was merely paying them. Much like his scrape with The Boston Globe, in this case too he claims ignorance, even though the CEO of Aid-Maintenance Co. was fined over $130,000 in the years before he accepted a contract with the Bain-owned firm.
Another basic issue with Romney’s response: the program he proposed already exists.
It’s called E-Verify, and it works by cross-referencing the Social Security and Homeland Security databases for basic employment information workers are required to submit before they can be put on payroll. The system serves the dual purpose of validating an individual’s citizenship and eligibility to work if they’re not a citizen, meaning there is already a card that signifies one’s legal work status.
If an employer doesn’t use that, then they’re probably not interested in knowing their employees’ citizenship status and could be held accountable by the federal government for hiring ineligible workers. First time offenders can be fined up to $2,000 per worker, and the fee doubles on second offense.
If Romney did know of this program and is actually calling for another one that’s similar or larger, it’s not clear what that might be. Either he’s proposing that the federal government begin issuing special identification cards to each citizen qualifying them to work in the U.S., or he’s proposing a federal mandate to the states, which would seem to go against his closely held views on states’ rights.
Problem is, Romney doesn’t elaborate on his official campaign website, and the only mentions of immigration to be found on his “jobs” page are references to “human capital” and the importance of attracting immigrants with advanced degrees. The only other mention of immigration, in his foreign policy plan, simply states that Romney would build a border fence and use the military in tandem with Mexican troops to escalate prosecution of the U.S. drug war.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/10/romney-i-have-personal-experience-hiring-undocumented-immigrants/
This video was published to YouTube on Monday, Jan. 9, 2012.
"Yeah, I hear the same Bull Sh*t at work... We have three of them and as far as the owner will tell you: "I am an employer... Not an Investigator" I say Total BS!!!!"By Stephen C. Webster
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
In an appearance in New Hampshire... more
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KB723
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added this
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5 months ago
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Obama rules as a dictator, says Ron Paul
Much of Congress is calling out President Obama for his excessive use of executive power in a string of recess appointments this week. To some lawmakers, this isn’t the first time the commander-in-chief has stepped on the toes of his constituents.
To Ron Paul, in fact, Obama has transcended America into a practical dictatorship.
The commander-in-chief overstepped the Congress and appointed Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection, much to the chagrin of the US Senate, who were on recess at the time. Although the president has the power to make such appointments during Senate recess sessions, lawmakers have since become outraged that Obama could not have waited for them to give Cordray the go-ahead.
Now the new CFP chief will sit pretty in a paid federal position and await a decision from Congress to either approve or disapprove Obama’s appointment — a decision which could be months in the making. In the meanwhile, Cordray lacks any official authority to rule the CFP, essentially allowing him to vacate a ghost opening and be compensated for simply sitting pretty.
But why would the president do such a thing?
“It is disappointing that a former constitutional law professor does not understand that the President is not a dictator or a king who can simply ignore the Constitution whenever he feels frustrated by the system of checks and balances wisely put in place by our Founders,” Texas congressman and GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul says in an official statement.
His move, says the legendary libertarian politicians, shows a “clear disregard of the Constitution” and a “flagrant contempt for the rules.”
According to Paul, this isn’t first time that the current commander-in-chief has overstepped the Constitution either. Throughout the administration, says Paul, the president has bypassed the rules in order to make decisions favored by few but always to his liking. Most recently, the congressman attacked President Obama over his warning to Capitol Hill that he would get his jobs act through one way or another.
“The current administration has unabashedly stated that Congress's unwillingness to pass the president's jobs bill means that the president will act unilaterally to enact provisions of it piecemeal through Executive Order,” Paul said in an open letter last November. “Obama explicitly threatens to bypass Congress, thus aggregating the power to make and enforce laws in the executive. This clearly erodes the principles of separation of powers and checks and balances. It brings the modern presidency dangerously close to an elective dictatorship.”
Elsewhere in Congress, Senator John McCain called the appointment of Cordray an “absolute abuse of power,” and Congressman Dan Burton said the president was acting in “direct dereliction of his oath to the American people to protect and defend the American Constitution.”
Ron Paul adds that the president “must be called to account for his actions.” Paul is currently challenging Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum for the GOP party’s nomination in hopes of running against Obama later in 2012.
http://rt.com/usa/news/obama-paul-president-congress-311/Obama rules as a dictator, says Ron Paul
Much of Congress is calling out President... more
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By Courtney Caligiuri
LINCOLN, R.I. (WPRI) - Suspended Lincoln police officer Edward Krawetz sat in court for a second straight day of testimony Thursday, on a charge that prosecutors say is backed up by video from a security camera. That video was shown in court on Wednesday.
The suspended patrolman is accused of felony assault of a woman outside Twin River slot parlor in Lincoln back in May of 2009.
Read More...
http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/local_news/blackstone/trial-video-shows-lincoln-cop-assaultBy Courtney Caligiuri
LINCOLN, R.I. (WPRI) - Suspended Lincoln police officer... more
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Could this be footage of a video diary / video blog of THE Casey Anthony? Yes, she's on probation for her check-fraud case, has access to a computer, internet, a camera, a phone and is somewhere located in Orlando... in hiding. Location unknown though an obvious disguise. This could be a way for her to receive donations from the morons that actually support her. It's ALL ABOUT THE MONEY for Casey Anthony.Could this be footage of a video diary / video blog of THE Casey Anthony? Yes,... more
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She probably would have been killed had she waited for the police instead of excercising her 2nd amendment rights.
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A recently widowed teen mom shot and killed an intruder to protect her 3-month-old son on New Year's Eve after asking the 911 operator for permission, local media reported.
Sarah McKinley, 18, was alone with her son in their Blanchard, Okla., home about 2 p.m. Dec. 31 when two men tried to break in, the Oklahoman said. McKinley's husband had just passed away from lung cancer on Christmas Day.
McKinley grabbed a shotgun, called 911 and begged the operator to send help.
She stayed on the line for a terrifying 21 minutes and asked the dispatcher if it was all right to shoot if the men forced their way in.
"I can't tell you that you can do that, but you do what you have to do to protect your baby," the dispatcher told her, according to ABC News.
The young mom fired when Justin Martin, 24, who was wielding a 12-inch knife, kicked his way through the door.
Police arrived to find Martin lying dead on the sofa McKinley had used to barricade the front door, according to Oklahoma's News 9.
His alleged accomplice, Dustin Stewart, 29, was arrested and jailed.
"It's not an easy decision to make, but it was either going to be him or my son," McKinley told local TV station KOCO. "And it wasn't going to be my son. There's nothing more dangerous than a woman with a child."
Police say that McKinley was justified in taking action against the intruders once they entered her home.She probably would have been killed had she waited for the police instead of... more
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Rick Santorum reiterated his belief that states should have the right to outlaw contraception during an interview with ABC News yesterday, saying, “The state has a right to do that, I have never questioned that the state has a right to do that. It is not a constitutional right, the state has the right to pass whatever statues they have.” http://tinyurl.com/6uadtxxRick Santorum reiterated his belief that states should have the right to outlaw... more
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LOrion
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added this
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5 months ago
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Many Asian and European nations have "professional" jurors, but not the USA and Canada. Why not? How many of us really want to do jury duty? and are the juries really trying cases as effectively as they should?Many Asian and European nations have "professional" jurors, but not the USA... more
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There's nothing funny about child rape, but I approve of this kind of protest.
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Even if you were watching closely as UH dominated Penn State in the Ticketcity.com Bowl Monday, you might not have noticed one attendee.
The notorious Pedobear, an internet meme embodying child molesters, was not only there, not only carrying a sign with the Penn State symbol saying "Keep Quiet and Don't Tell Anyone," but he showed up on the JumboTron, as the above picture from Deadspin shows.
Deadspin says the Shaggy Bevo UT message board took credit.
We're sure Cotton Bowl security simply thought he was a Houston Cougar (or a Nittany Lion?), but we're hoping there are no pictures of him making the Cougar hand signal.There's nothing funny about child rape, but I approve of this kind of protest.... more
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US President Barack Obama has put pen to paper on a $662 billion defense bill despite serious reservations from critics over the proposed handling of terror suspects. The bill also brought into effect a new round of strict sanctions against Iran.
Some provisions of the bill raise serious concerns among human rights advocates, who argue that they could allow indefinite detention and interrogation of any American citizen suspected to be linked to terrorism. They say it would deny US citizens legal rights protected by the Constitution.
After the bill was approved by Congress in December, Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch said: “By signing this defense spending bill, President Obama will go down in history as the president who enshrined indefinite detention without trial in US law.”
Indeed, President Obama himself has expressed worries about the very legislation he has signed, saying he does not agree with all of it.
“The fact that I support this bill as a whole does not mean I agree with everything in it,” he said in Hawaii, where he is spending his vacation. “I have signed this bill despite having serious reservations with certain provisions that regulate the detention, interrogation and prosecution of suspected terrorists.”
Initially the White House threatened to veto the legislation but then pulled back after Congress made last-minute revisions.
Supporters of the legislation have said it codifies current arrangements such as the indefinite detention of terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.
Obama also brought into force the latest round of tough sanctions against Iran, targeting its Central Bank in an effort to block Tehran’s ability to fund its nuclear enrichment program.
The new sanctions could make it almost impossible for most refiners to buy crude from Iran, whose economy is mostly dependent on its oil exports.
Author and radio host Stephen Lendman told RT the move may lead to a US war against Iran.
“Obama is imperial. He is going for one county in the Middle East after another. His policy is ravaging the world,” he claimed.
Lendman says that should the war against Iran start, the entire region could be enflamed. “Russia and China have strategic interests in the region. They may get involved to protect them.”
He believes the real targets for the United States are Russia, because of its military strength, and China, because of its growing economic strength “We are talking about the clash of the Titans. Sooner or later that clash is coming,” he concluded.
http://rt.com/news/obama-signs-defense-bill-087/US President Barack Obama has put pen to paper on a $662 billion defense bill despite... more
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On Sunday, Iran rejected a ruling by Judge George Daniels in Manhattan that it is responsible along with al-Qaeda and the Taliban for the September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast characterized the court decision as “clumsy scenario-making” by the United States. He said al-Qaeda has no presence in Iran and that it is quite “evident” that the United States created al-Qaeda and supported it.
In December 23, the federal court ruled ruled that Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah materially and directly supported al-Qaeda in the September 11, 2001, attacks and are legally responsible for damages to hundreds of family members of victims who are plaintiffs in the case.On Sunday, Iran rejected a ruling by Judge George Daniels in Manhattan that it is... more
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While activists waging for a free Internet advocate against the possible passing of the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, the US court system is already favoring big business by thwarting third-party competition without any objections.
In at least three cases recently, the US court system has attacked websites that employed unauthorized usage of a major label’s branding, specifically True Religion clothing, Chanel cologne and Philip Morris. In the latest case filed by the cigarette giant, prosecution for Morris lobbied to have several websites and their contents and funds seized and transferred without the defense ever able to present a case.
As Congress debates the provisions that could make up the controversial SOPA bill, it looks as if the US courts are already shutting down websites for what could be considered unauthorized use or infringement without a just trial ever being carried out.
In the case against websites advertising allegedly counterfeit Chanel products, a District Court judge in Nevada allowed the legitimate manufacturer to seize around 600 domain names that were related to but not affiliated with the company. Additionally, restraining orders and injunctions were handed to the biggest search engine and Web companies in the world barring sites such as Google and Yahoo! from indexing or linking to the sites in question. In that instance, the federal judge allowed Chanel to seize the domains and transfer them to US-based registrar GoDaddy without any say from the defendants. And, according to the court ruling, those that even “promote” the sale of Chanel goods, legitimate or otherwise, can be added to the injunction and seized in the future.
In that instance, attorney Venkat Balasubramani of the Eric Goldman Technology and Marketing Law Blog writes simply, “Wow.”
Balasubramani may be surprised, but even more surprising is how rampant these cases are becoming. The third case causing the seizure of competing Philip Morris sites has come within only a month of the other two. Eric Goldman himself adds, “Only hearing one side of the story isn't enough to trigger the kind of draconian remedies the courts are granting.”
“That kind of result wouldn't happen with real due process,” adds the associate professor of law from Santa Clara University and administrator of the legal blog.
The website Techdirt.com has been following the cases themselves and note that to see the excessiveness in these cases, one doesn’t have to go much further than to realize that, “based solely on the declaration of a Philip Morris employee, the court is ordering the full transfer not just of websites, but of any funds being sent to a website.”
In the case of True Religion court ruling, Techdirt calls it essentially a “kill switch” for the allegedly-guilty websites, which were found at fault with once again no due process.
Currently Congress is debating whether it should impose a similar cloak over the Internet as a whole, causing for any site to allegedly broadcast copyrighted material to be seized and the administrator to suffer from immense fines and jail time. Given these three cases, however, do we really need the Senate and House to put the stamp on it?
"The fight against SOPA [the Stop Online Piracy Act] may be a red herring in some ways," writes Balasubramani, "since IP plaintiffs are fashioning very similar remedies in court irrespective of the legislation. Thus, even if SOPA is defeated, it may turn out to be a Pyrrhic victory — opponents may win the battle but may not have gained much as a result."
http://rt.com/usa/news/us-court-sopa-morris-203/While activists waging for a free Internet advocate against the possible passing of... more
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While it is reported that intercepting unencrypted drone communication data streams had first been known to US military since the mid-1990's, this exploitation continued on into 2009 where militant laptops were found with drone data and unencrypted video feeds from Predator drones...
https://www.infosecisland.com/blogview/18778-How-the-RQ-170-Was-Hijacked.htmlWhile it is reported that intercepting unencrypted drone communication data streams... more
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If we we consider the Occupy movements across the globe, demonstrating and protesting against income inequality and inequitable policies around commerce and taxation, the persistent cart vulnerability could become a seemingly benign form of occupation that could develop into a serious threat...
https://www.infosecisland.com/blogview/18630-OWWWS-The-Other-Form-of-Occupy.htmlIf we we consider the Occupy movements across the globe, demonstrating and protesting... more
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