Chaos & Tyranny

Four New York politicians propose eliminating First Amendment

full report (pdf)

In an attempt to stop cyberbullying, the following would be criminalized:

LEAVING IMPROPER MESSAGES ON ONLINE MESSAGE BOARDS OR SENDING HURTFUL AND DAMAGING MESSAGES TO OTHERS;

“FLAMING” (HURTFUL, CRUEL, AND OFTENTIMES INTIMIDATING MESSAGES INTENDED TO INFLAME, INSIGHT, OR ENRAGE);

"TROLLING” (DELIBERATELY AND DECEITFULLY POSTING INFORMATION TO ENTICE GENUINELY HELPFUL PEOPLE TO RESPOND (OFTEN EMOTIONALLY), OFTEN DONE TO PROVOKE OTHERS);

EXCLUSION (INTENTIONALLY AND CRUELLY EXCLUDING SOMEONE FROM AN ONLINE GROUP).

The paper also attacks "anonymity," again ignoring how anonymity can often be extremely helpful to kids who wish to discuss things and ask questions without revealing who they are.

Subsides to Farmers ~ $200 billion gone from our pockets!

Of the roughly $200 billion spent to subsidize U.S. commodity crops from 1995 to 2010 (commodity crops are interchangeable, storable foods such as grains and certain beans, and cotton), roughly two-thirds went to animal-feed crops, tobacco and cotton. Roughly $50 billion went to human-food crops, including wheat, peanuts, rice, oil seeds and other crops that become sweeteners, according to a database compiled by the Environmental Working Group, an advocacy group. About $12 billion went to crops that were turned into ethanol, a use that is consuming a growing share of the harvest.

Secret panel can put Americans on "kill list"

American militants like Anwar al-Awlaki are placed on a kill or capture list by a secretive panel of senior government officials, which then informs the president of its decisions, according to officials.

There is no public record of the operations or decisions of the panel, which is a subset of the White House's National Security Council, several current and former officials said. Neither is there any law establishing its existence or setting out the rules by which it is supposed to operate.

Two principal legal theories were advanced, an official said: first, that the actions were permitted by Congress when it authorized the use of military forces against militants in the wake of the attacks of September 11, 2001; and they are permitted under international law if a country is defending itself.

Full story

Nanny Government Just Shut Down 500 Pools in Illinois!

Nobody wants dangerous drains that result in someone dying, but bureaucrats are forcing schools to spend money they don't have, then not inspecting the fix!

http://www.wgntv.com/news/wgn-hundreds-of-pools-closed-across-20111005,0,7597646.premiumvideo

Drive the highway? Your plates are being read!

The mounted camera is capable of scanning license plates, taking photos and sending information to a database. Once the trooper opens this program on his computer, it automatically starts scanning for license plates.

The camera then sends pictures through the computer program to the laptop.

If one of the plates scanned has been registered as stolen or expired, an alarm signals the trooper.

Criminalizing Everyone and Everything

In 1996 just over 40K were sentenced for federal offenses, in 2010 over 80K were sentenced for federal offenses. Immigration is now the #1 offense with drug trafficking #2!

For centuries, a bedrock principle of criminal law has held that people must know they are doing something wrong before they can be found guilty. The concept is known as mens rea, Latin for a "guilty mind."

Back in 1790, the first federal criminal law passed by Congress listed fewer than 20 federal crimes. Today there are an estimated 4,500 crimes in federal statutes, plus thousands more embedded in federal regulations, many of which have been added to the penal code since the 1970s.

Under English common law principles, most U.S. criminal statutes traditionally required prosecutors not only to prove that defendants committed a bad act, but also that they also had bad intentions. In a theft, don't merely show that the accused took someone's property, but also show that he or she knew it belonged to someone else.

Overall, more than 40% of nonviolent offenses created or amended during two recent Congresses—the 109th and the 111th, the latter of which ran through last year—had "weak" mens rea requirements at best, according to a study conducted by the conservative Heritage Foundation and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

When legislators "criminalize everything under the sun", it's unrealistic to expect citizens to be fully informed about the penal code. With reduced intent requirements, suddenly it opens a whole lot of people to being potential violators.