Creeping Tyranny?

There were approximately 31,000 laws passed by state legislatures in 2010 - and that doesn't include what was passed by the 111th Congress on the federal side.

There are actually some pretty good laws in the mix. One example is a law passed in Iowa which makes it more difficult for local sheriffs to deny concealed carry permits.

But knowing government as I do, I am guessing the bulk of the laws passed across the fruited plain are just more restrictions on freedom, liberty and commerce. One example here are laws passed in both St. Louis and St. Louis County that prohibit smoking in bars and restaurants.

Yep, the tyranny of the pleasure police marches on.

You can read about it at this link.

The Obamanistas Want To Track Your Cell Phone

Via CNET.com (emphasis mine):

Two years ago, when the FBI was stymied by a band of armed robbers known as the "Scarecrow Bandits" that had robbed more than 20 Texas banks, it came up with a novel method of locating the thieves.

FBI agents obtained logs from mobile phone companies corresponding to what their cellular towers had recorded at the time of a dozen different bank robberies in the Dallas area. The voluminous records showed that two phones had made calls around the time of all 12 heists, and that those phones belonged to men named Tony Hewitt and Corey Duffey. A jury eventually convicted the duo of multiple bank robbery and weapons charges.

Even though police are tapping into the locations of mobile phones thousands of times a year, the legal ground rules remain unclear, and federal privacy laws written a generation ago are ambiguous at best. On Friday, the first federal appeals court to consider the topic will hear oral arguments (PDF) in a case that could establish new standards for locating wireless devices.

In that case, the Obama administration has argued that warrantless tracking is permitted because Americans enjoy no "reasonable expectation of privacy" in their--or at least their cell phones'--whereabouts. U.S. Department of Justice lawyers say that "a customer's Fourth Amendment rights are not violated when the phone company reveals to the government its own records" that show where a mobile device placed and received calls.

You will find the entire article at this link.

It appears our Constitution is about to be shat upon yet again by the federal government, and the 4th Amendment thereof may be about to take in right in the neck.

Just like CARNIVORE and ECHELON, I doubt we will be hearing much from the left over this outrage. After all, one of their own is currently in the White House, so that makes this sort of nonsense acceptable in their twisted way of thinking.

Of course, if George W. Bush was still POTUS, these very same hypocrites would be spinning on their eyebrows and spitting nails, while accusing GWB of being everything but a child of God.

Understand, I have no problem with law enforcement using available technology to track real criminals, particularly those who pose a danger to innocents, but they at least should have to obtain a warrant to do so. I would even support a streamlined process to speed up the process, but only if it is very tightly controlled.

Obviously our system of privacy laws has a very long way to go before it catches up with rapidly advancing technologies. This is not a little dangerous to those of us who believe in our right to privacy and the 4th Amendment, as government could get away with a lot of shenanigans in the interim.

It's even more of a concern when you take into consideration the decidedly totalitarian leanings of those currently in power, and who seem to often operate is if the Constitution does not apply to them.

Stay tuned, because this hideous story is far from over.

N.C. Town to Residents: To Hell with the Constitution

In case you have been snowed in without power and haven't heard, on Friday, the residents of King, North Carolina, came under a "state of emergency" declared by the town's City Council due to the approaching bad weather.

This state of emergency automatically activated a state law that, according to the town's Chief of Police, automatically installs a curfew, restricts the sale of alcohol, and prohibits the transport of firearms in vehicles if a "driving ban" is called for as part of the "emergency."

A driving ban was included between midnight and 5am in this case, meaning that town residents were only allowed to bear arms on their own premises, and were thus prohibited from transporting them in their vehicles.

You can see the WXII12.com story here.

Here is an interesting video I found on YouTube:



Of course, many residents of the town were incensed at having their constitutional rights shat upon in such a tyrannical fashion, and expressed their displeasure in no uncertain terms.

Hopefully the residents of King, as well as citizens all across North Carolina, will now realize that elections do have consequences, and respond by removing the idiot politicians who are responsible for this unconstitutional action from office at their next opportunity. Perhaps sooner.

I see what happened in King this weekend to be a stark precursor to what life in Obama's Amerika could very well be like in the near future, as given the tyrannical leanings of those currently in power in D.C., I could easily envision something like this happening on a national scale.

The lesson here is that those of us to whom freedom and liberty still matter must remain ever vigilant, lest something similar happen to us.

You can read more about it here.

Outrage! Grassfire Health Care Petitions Turned Away at Capitol

You aren't going to believe this. Then again...



Just keep sharpening those pitchforks and soaking those torches, folks. We might just need 'em yet.

(h/t: My friend Eowyn at Giovanni's World)

Schoolchildren Compelled to Sing the Praises of Dear Leader

I think we have seen this sort of thing before:

Freedom Wins Out Over Government Tyranny In Clearwater

Here at the Notepad, I have previously posted on the unfortunate saga of Clearwater, Fla. business owner Herb Quintera here and here, who ran afoul of his municipal government for first having murals painted on the exterior of his business, then got in even deeper doo-doo for erecting a large copy of the 1st Amendment on his commercial property.

I am happy to report that the city of Clearwater has backed down and agreed to a settlement:

Herb Quintero, represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, sued on the basis of the First Amendment. A fish mural painted on the side of his bait and tackle shop, "The Complete Angler" was at the center of the controversy.

The city said the mural was an advertisement and violated city code. Clearwater ordered Quintero to remove the mural and assessed fines. After a long legal battle, Clearwater is backing down.

Monday, City Council approved a $55,000 settlement that allows Quintero to keep the mural and even add to it. The settlement pays Quintero's fines and legal fees. He says the victory is bittersweet.

"We won the battle, but we definitely didn't win the war," Quintero said. "It's a shallow victory for us."

You can read the entire MyFoxTampaBay story here.

Shallow victory perhaps, but a victory nonetheless. Its just too bad the citizens of that town had to take a $55,000 hit in the ass due to the mindless rigidity of their over-zealous elected officials.

Well, elections do have their consequences, do they not?

It further appears the powers-that-be in that Florida town just don't get it when it comes to issues of freedom and liberty.

Government Stupidity is the One Constant in the Universe

In-flight bathroom emergency leads to felony charge

By BILL RANKIN

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

It’s a felony charge brought on by Montezuma’s revenge.

It was 30 minutes after takeoff. Joao Correa had to use the bathroom. Right away.

The last meal the Philips Healthcare marketing manager ate at a restaurant in Honduras wasn’t sitting well. He looked down the single aisle of the Delta 737. A beverage cart blocked his way.

Correa, 43, asked the flight attendant if he could use the lavatory in business class. No, she said.

Correa returned to his seat. He waited for the cart to move. A few minutes passed. Desperation overcame him.

What happened next on the March 28 flight depends on who is talking.

Correa said he ran straight to the business class bathroom. “I had no choice,” he said in a telephone interview.

Correa said flight attendant Stephanie Scott put up her arm and blocked his entry into business class, according to an FBI affidavit. Correa then grabbed her arm to keep his balance.

Scott, however, said Correa stormed up the aisle and insisted to use the bathroom. She said she lightly placed her arm on his shoulder and asked him to move back. Correa then grabbed her right arm, pulled it downward and twisted it, she told an FBI agent.

Correa refused to return to his seat. Scott called the pilot who talked to Correa. The pilot let Correa use the bathroom in business class. Correa did and returned to his seat, where he stayed for the rest of the three-hour flight.

Still, Scott’s statement and corroboration from a witness who was a pilot for another airline gave the FBI probable cause to charge Correa with assault.

After Delta Flight 406 touched down in Atlanta, Correa was told he could not make his connection to his home in Concord, Ohio. He was arrested that Saturday and jailed for two nights. The following Monday, he appeared before a U.S. magistrate in federal court in Atlanta and was granted bond.

Often, Correa said, his job requires him to travel. He was in Central America to conduct sales training in Panama and to visit customers in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras. Before March 28, he said, he had never had any trouble on a flight.

“I’m devastated,” said Correa, who has a wife and two children. “I’m so traumatized emotionally. It’s been really, really hard on me. I’ve never had any event with the police in my life.”

Delta spokeswoman Susan Elliott said flight crews do all they can to ensure the safety and security of passengers.

Delta is cooperating with authorities in the investigation of the incident. The airline also strictly follows Federal Aviation Administration policy, which calls for passengers on international flights to use the lavatory in their seating class, Elliott said.

A preliminary hearing, in which federal prosecutors must lay out their case against Correa, has been scheduled for April 17.

-End

A felony charge? Gimme a f'ing break.

Perhaps these idiots would have preferred that Mr. Correa had dropped a load right in the middle of the aisle.

Score One for the Constitution

Back in February, I posted about the unfortunate plight of Mr. Herb Quintera, a business owner in Clearwater, Florida, and the problems he was having with an overzealous bunch of local government busybodies, which eventually prompted the filing of a federal lawsuit against the city.

I am happy to note that a U.S. magistrate has recomended to a federal judge that Mr. Quintero's 1st Amendment rights be upheld and that the city government should back off. The case still has to go before a federal judge, but it appears Mr. Quintero will ultimately prevail.

Over the last month, this story has sparked outrage from all over the nation, as people (including myself) began flooding the city government with emails in support of Mr. Quitero's God-given right to free speech and freedom of expression:

"They're very abusive, profane, insulting e-mails," City Manager Bill Horne told the St. Petersburg Times. "I happen to believe we did the right thing."

Somehow I don't think Mr. Horne "gets it. "

Perhaps the good citizens of Clearwater will take note of this whole sad affair and toss Mr. Horne out into the street next election day.

(h/t: WorldNetDaily)

Government Run Amok

Given the focus on the current push by the socialists to take over our federal government (a battle which the left appears to be winning handily) it is sometimes easy to overlook the threats to our hard-won freedoms that state and local governments can often pose.

If you have been alive on this rock for more than say, 10 years, you have probably encountered situations where government is clearly overstepping its boundaries. I know I certainly have, and each of my experiences only stiffened my resolve to continue my personal war against government tyranny in any form, and not to go off and cower in a corner somewhere, as far too many Americans seem willing to do these days.

However, I have yet to encounter anything close to the government lunacy that one man has found himself face to face with in Clearwater, Florida.

No American citizen should have to endure this sort of bureaucratic tyranny by any government, not even for a minute.

I don't know what it is about local governments located within the Sunshine State, as they seem to all have a little wider totalitarian streak than many other areas of our nation.

(h/t: WorldNetDaily)

National Emergency Centers?

I am not exactly sure if it is the the decidedly uncertain, inverted and bass-ackward times we now live in, the still mysterious yet readily identifiable totalitarian nature of the person who is now occupying the Oval Office, the disgraced and impeached former federal judge who is proposing this curious legislation, or government's inherent ability to do its worst whenever possible.

Perhaps it is a combination of all of the above that has caused me not a small amount of pause here, but, as a student of history, as well as an American who loves and cherishes freedom above all else, the idea that this sort of thing is even being considered scares the absolute hell out of me.

Mindless paranoia on my part, you say?

Perhaps.

Read and decide for yourself:

Posted: February 01, 2009
7:19 pm Eastern

By Jerome R. Corsi
© 2009 WorldNetDaily

Rep. Alcee L. Hastings, D-Fla.

Rep. Alcee L. Hastings, D-Fla., has introduced to the House of Representatives a new bill, H.R. 645, calling for the secretary of homeland security to establish no fewer than six national emergency centers for corralling civilians on military installations.

The proposed bill, which has received little mainstream media attention, appears designed to create the type of detention center that those concerned about use of the military in domestic affairs fear could be used as concentration camps for political dissidents, such as occurred in Nazi Germany.

Heed the warning of a former Hitler Youth who sees America on the same path as pre-Nazi Germany in "Defeating the Totalitarian Lie" from WND Books!

The bill also appears to expand the president's emergency power, much as the executive order signed by President Bush on May 9, 2007, that, as WND reported, gave the president the authority to declare an emergency and take over the direction of all federal, state, local, territorial and tribal governments without even consulting Congress.

As WND also reported, DHS has awarded a $385 million contract to Houston-based KBR, Halliburton's former engineering and construction subsidiary, to build temporary detention centers on an "as-needed" basis in national emergency situations.

According to the text of the proposed bill, the purpose of the National Emergency Centers is "to provide temporary housing, medical, and humanitarian assistance to individuals and families dislocated due to an emergency or major disaster."

Three additional purposes are specified in the text of the proposed legislation:

• To provide centralized locations for the purposes of training and ensuring the coordination of federal, state and local first responders;


• To provide centralized locations to improve the coordination of preparedness, response and recovery efforts of government, private, not-for-profit entities and faith-based organizations;


• To meet other appropriate needs, as defined by the secretary of homeland security.

The broad specifications of the bill's language, however, contribute to concern that the "national emergency" purpose could be utilized by the secretary of homeland security to include any kind of situation the government wants to contain or otherwise control.

Rep. Hastings created controversy during the 2008 presidential campaign with his provocative comments concerning Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin.

"If Sarah Palin isn't enough of a reason for you to get over whatever your problem is with Barack Obama, then you damn well had better pay attention," Hastings said, as reported by ABC News. "Anybody toting guns and stripping moose don't care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks. So, you just think this through."

H.R. 645, which seeks to allocate $360 million for developing the emergency centers, has been referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and to the Committee on Armed Services.

-END

To meet other appropriate needs, as defined by the secretary of homeland security.

Yeah, no potential for abuse here. After all, we all know how reasonable government is, right?

School Bans the Dissing of Barack Obama

As a libertarian and lover of freedom, I have all kinds of problems with this move on the part of a government school, my biggest issue here being that they are teaching the students of this school that it is okay for government to decide what American citizens can and cannot say.

"Inappropriate comments that may make other students, staff or families feel unwelcome or uncomfortable in school or on the bus will not be tolerated," Superintendent Kevin Bright said in an e-mail sent to parents Monday, Jan. 12.

So, who is it that decides what constitutes an inappropriate comment? Some government bureaucrat? Sorry, but that is utter nonsense, and should be tolerated by no one who truly cares about our freedoms and liberties as Americans.

(h/t Dayton Daily News via WND)

Another HOA NAZI Horror Story From, You Guessed It - Florida

If you own a home in the Ibis Cove community in Naples, Florida, or an any other community governed by freedom-hating HOA Nazis, for that matter, you best read the mouse print on your agreements before putting up any outdoor Christmas decorations.

Retired police officer Tom Hayes and his wife Ann Marie, residents of Ibis Cove, are finding out the hard way that running afoul of the HOA fascists that govern their community can be rather expensive, as they is now facing up to $1000 in fines, and he and his family have been banned from occupying any common areas of the community until he pays up.

Ann Marie Hayes, who heads the children’s social committee in Ibis Cove, said she was planning a Christmas party for the children in the community on Saturday. But the decoration fracas has caused the homeowners association to temporarily revoke the Hayes’ common area privileges, so she said she can’t go in the clubhouse.

How utterly ridiculous.

Free Country or Imperial Nanny State?

Excuse me, but since when did government (at any level) have the "authority" to order you to evacuate your home? According to a report filed by JUAN A. LOZANO of the Associated Press, the "authorities" in Galveston, Texas, apparently think they do.

...and officials said Tuesday they are ready to use emergency powers to empty the barrier island.

Hmm. Exactly what "emergency powers" are these "officials" referring to here?

Local authorities are prepared to do whatever it takes to get residents to a safer place.

Does this mean trampling upon the rights of these citizens? Suppose one (or more) of these people flatly refuses to go along with said "evacuation?" What will "whatever it takes" mean for him/her/them?

Arrest? Prosecution? Incarceration perhaps? After all, it is for their "own good," is it not? As we all know, Government knows best, right? I mean, their hiring standards are so, umm, high.

Last time I checked, the government's only legitimate role in this society was solely to ensure that our right's as citizens were protected. Period.

What say you?