Category: Crime

Feds Ask Web Firms For Account Passwords

The U.S. government has demanded that major Internet companies divulge users’ stored passwords, according to two industry sources familiar with these orders, which represent an escalation in surveillance techniques that has not previously been disclosed.

If the government is able to determine a person’s password, which is typically stored in encrypted form, the credential could be used to log in to an account to peruse confidential correspondence or even impersonate the user. Obtaining it also would aid in deciphering encrypted devices in situations where passwords are reused.  …

Some of the government orders demand not only a user’s password but also the encryption algorithm and the so-called salt, according to a person familiar with the requests. A salt is a random string of letters or numbers used to make it more difficult to reverse the encryption process and determine the original password. Other orders demand the secret question codes often associated with user accounts.

via CNET News.

Well this sure has gotten ridiculous.

Welfare-Funded Groceries Shipped to Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Haiti

Food stamps are paying for trans-Atlantic takeout — with New Yorkers using taxpayer-funded benefits to ship food to relatives in Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Welfare recipients are buying groceries with their Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards and packing them in giant barrels for the trip overseas, The Post found.

The practice is so common that hundreds of 45- to 55-gallon cardboard and plastic barrels line the walls of supermarkets in almost every Caribbean corner of the city.

The feds say the moveable feasts go against the intent of the $86 billion welfare program for impoverished Americans.

via NYPOST.

Can we now admit that the system is broken?

Why is this not national news?  When are the taxpayers going to wake up and start demanding better?

IRS Chief Met with Obama 2 Days Before New Targeting Rules

The Obama appointee implicated in congressional testimony in the IRS targeting scandal met with President Obama in the White House two days before offering his colleagues a new set of advice on how to scrutinize tea party and conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.

IRS chief counsel William Wilkins, who was named in House Oversight testimony by retiring IRS agent Carter Hull as one of his supervisors in the improper targeting of conservative groups, met with Obama in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on April 23, 2012. Wilkins’ boss, then-IRS commissioner Douglas Shulman, met with Obama on April 24, 2012, according to White House visitor logs.

On April 25, 2012, Wilkins sent Hull and fellow Washington-based IRS official Lois Lerner “additional comments on the draft guidance” for approving or denying tea party tax-exempt applications, according to the IRS’ inspector general’s report.

via The Daily Caller.

Really!  Where’s the rest of the media on this?!

Someone should be going to jail over this.  It’s simply not going to go away.  When a government uses its power to intimidate and harass its opponents that is an abuse of power.  It’s tyranny and cannot be tolerated.

That the MSM has not carried this is an affront to every American.

Survey of 15,000 Law Enforcement on Gun Control

The survey, which was conducted in early March 2013, received 15,000 responses from law enforcement professionals. It found that the overall attitude of law enforcement is strongly anti-gun legislation and pro-gun rights, with the belief that an armed citizenry is effective in stopping crime. Response percentages varied only slightly when analyzed by rank and department size. Among the results:

  • 86 percent feel the currently proposed legislation would have no effect or a negative effect on improving officer safety
  • Similarly, 92 percent feel that banning semi-automatic firearms, or “assault weapons,” would have no effect or a negative effect on reducing violent crime
  • Demonstrating the opinion that the best way to combat gun crime is through harsher punishment, 91 percent said the use of a firearm while perpetrating a crime should lead to a stiff, mandatory sentence with no plea bargains. Likewise, 59 percent believe increasing punishment severity for unlicensed dealers would reduce crime
  • Respondents were more split on background checks, with 31 percent agreeing that mental health background checks in all gun sales would help reduce mass shootings, while 45 percent disagreed
  • 71 percent support law enforcement leaders who have publicly refused to enforce more restrictive gun laws within their jurisdictions
  • 82 percent believe gun buyback or turn-in programs are ineffective in reducing the level of gun violence
  • 91 percent support the concealed carry of firearms by civilians who have not been convicted of a felony and/or have not been deemed psychologically incapable
  • Likewise, 80 percent feel that legally-armed citizens would likely have reduced the number of casualties in recent mass shooting incidents
  • 38 percent believe the biggest cause of gun violence in the United States is the “decline in parenting and family values”. This was trailed by “overly lax parole and short sentencing standards” at 15 percent and “pop culture influence” (e.g., violent movies and video games) at 14 percent.

via: Business Wire / PoliceOne.com

This is incredible.  Don’t plan on seeing this in the MSM.

Defend Yourself from Crazy People

This is blatantly lifted from Second City Cop.  No need to correct perfection.

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Here’s some brilliant freaking idea coming out of a “police executive” group. Confronting an attacker leads to less casualties:
  • The speed and deadliness of recent high-profile shootings have prompted police departments to recommend fleeing, hiding or fighting in the event of a mass attack, instead of remaining passive and waiting for help.The shift represents a “sea change,” said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Research Forum, which recently held a meeting in Washington to discuss shootings like those in Newtown, Conn., and Aurora, Colo

    The traditional advice to the public has been “don’t get involved, call 911,” Mr. Wexler said, adding, “There’s a recognition in these ‘active shooter’ situations that there may be a need for citizens to act in a way that perhaps they haven’t been trained for or equipped to deal with.”

This is just coming to national consciousness now, but police departments across the country, including Chicago, rewrote these policies years ago for active shooter scenarios when it was determined that a response, no matter how disorganized, disjointed or small, almost inevitably led to the shooter surrendering or suiciding himself.The NRA has been advocating this for years and been roundly castigated for daring to say it. The issue isn’t guns, it’s people and the unwillingness to confront easily predictable and obvious signs of instability that lead to mass shootings. Columbine and Virginia Tech, the two most often cited examples, were both 100% preventable if the warning signs were recognized and acted upon. So was Newtown. So was Aurora. In fact, records unsealed late last week revealed a shocking fact:

  • A University of Colorado psychiatrist told campus police a month before the Aurora movie theater attack that James Holmes had homicidal thoughts and was a public danger, according to records unsealed Thursday.Lynne Fenton, a psychiatrist at the Denver campus, told police that Holmes had also “threatened and harassed her via email/text messages” in June 2012. He is standing trial for the July 20 shooting rampage that killed 12 and injured 70 during a midnight premiere of the latest Batman movie.
Colorado, which just passed some of the more draconian gun restrictions in the nation, based their anti-gun arguments on the theory that the Aurora Theater shooting could have happened anywhere and been perpetrated by anyone. But the fact is that the theater is the only one in a 20 minute radius with a specific “no guns” rule in effect and authorities were warned by a mental health professional a month in advance of the killer’s threats and violent tendencies and they did nothing to stop him. Everything that could have been done, wasn’t. And gun grabbers are using it to deprive everyone of the Right to self defense, a Right now condoned by police executives.
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This is — for those that read my blog — old news.  I shared the Alabama Dept. of Homeland Security video in January.
In a comment on Facebook I wrote that the critical factor in savings lives in any active shooter situation is the time to engagement by an armed good guy.  Once any armed good guy shows up the carnage always stops within 60 seconds.  Always.

FBI Admits Warrantless Cellphone Tapping

FBI investigators for at least five years have routinely used a sophisticated cellphone tracking tool that can pinpoint callers’ locations and listen to their conversations — all without getting a warrant for it, a federal court was told this week.

The use of the “Stingray,” as the tool is called, “is a very common practice” by federal investigators, Justice Department attorneys told the U.S. District Court for Arizona Thursday, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

via Washington Times.

This is but the latest intrusion in our private lives by an over zealous and over reaching government of jack-booted thugs.

Where is Eric Holder on this?  He’s the head of the DOJ… and that head should roll.  If Holder had any dignity he would have resigned a long time ago.  It’s time for Congress to step-up the efforts to get Holder out.

Naturally, the complacent media is going to bury this story.

Chicago’s Felons with Guns Go Free

Do you know where Chicago ranks in terms of enforcement of the federal gun laws? Out of 90 jurisdictions in the country, they ranked 90th. Why doesn’t NBC News start with, “Shocking news on Chicago. Of all the jurisdictions in the country, Chicago’s dead last on enforcement of the federal gun laws?” Why doesn’t the national press corps, when they’re sitting down there with Jay Carney and the president and the vice president, why don’t they say, “Why is Chicago dead last in enforcement of the gun laws against gangs with guns, felons with guns, drug dealers with guns?

via NewsBusters.

I’ve been saying this for over a year now.  Exactly!!

Why is it that Anita Alvarez does not refer felon with gun cases to the federal government?  Why?

Why is it that CPD Superintendent Garry McCarthy does not make news by telling people that Anita Alvarez is not referring felon with gun cases to the federal government?  Why?

Why is it that Mayor Rahm does not come out and make news by telling people that Anita Alvarez is not referring felon with gun cases to the federal government?  Why?

Because the WANT the gun crime on the streets because it creates the perception that there is a NEED for MORE gun laws.

It’s all a charade.

 

It’s Big Brother Day

Just plain too damn spooky for all this to hit in the same day.  If you’re not weirded out… you should be

Let’s start with the CIA keeping track of EVERYTHING you do.

Discussing the goldmine of data that today’s technology has created, the Central Intelligence Agency’s Chief Technology Officer Ira “Gus” Hunt on Wednesday said the spy agency tries to “collect everything we can and hang onto it forever.”  …

“The value of any piece of information is only known when you can connect it with something else that arrives at a future point in time,” Hunt said. “Since you can’t connect dots you don’t have, it drives us into a mode of, we fundamentally try to collect everything and hang onto it forever.”  …

Hunt said it is “really very nearly within our grasp to be able to compute on all human generated information.” This, he explained, would allow the CIA to analyze digital breadcrumbs people don’t even realize they are leaving behind.

“You are aware of the fact that somebody can know where you are at all times, because you carry a mobile device, even if that mobile device is turned off…You know this, I hope? Yes? Well, you should,” he added.

via TheBlaze.com.

For the record, this is totally illegal.  The CIA is not permitted to perform any investigations on U.S. citizens on U.S. soil.  This is the Obama administration run amok.

What’s that?  You doubt me that’s it’s the Obama admin pushing this?

The U.S. government is expanding a cybersecurity program that scans Internet traffic headed into and out of defense contractors to include far more of the country’s private, civilian-run infrastructure.  …

Under last month’s White House executive order on cybersecurity, the scans will be driven by classified information provided by U.S. intelligence agencies — including data from the National Security Agency (NSA) — on new or especially serious espionage threats and other hacking attempts. U.S. spy chiefs said on March 12 that cyber attacks have supplanted terrorism as the top threat to the country.The Department of Homeland Security will gather the secret data and pass it to a small group of telecommunication companies and cyber security providers that have employees holding security clearances, government and industry officials said. Those companies will then offer to process email and other Internet transmissions for critical infrastructure customers that choose to participate in the program

via NBCNews.com.

Ya, it’s the Obama admin.  And you will note that’s it’s DHS taking the lead here… Not the CIA.  Why?  Because DHS is allowed by spy on U.S. citizens (thank you Patriot Act.)

And while talking about DHS… keep in mind that they refuse to answer any questions about why they need 1.4 billion rounds of ammunition.

Speaking at CPAC with Infowars and We Are Change reporter, Luke Rudkowski, Congressman Timothy Huelscamp revealed this week that the Department of Homeland Security has refused to answer questions from “multiple” members of Congress regarding its recent purchase of huge amounts of weapons and ammunition.

“They have no answer for that question. They refuse to answer to answer that,” Huelscamp said.

“I’ve got a list of various questions of agencies about multiple things. Far from being the most transparent administration in the world, they are the most closed and opaque,” the Congressman added.

“They refuse to let us know what is going on, so I don’t really have an answer for that. Multiple members of Congress are asking those questions,” he added.

via Infowars.

Worry not.  Your government is here to protect you.

But just in case you’re not caught in the government tracking of absolutely everything you do.  Worry not… the Gestapo is alive and well.  You should keep an eye on your neighbor and see what they’re up to.

Nearly a year before signing the nation’s most stringent gun control measure into law, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo launched a hotline that allows state residents to report illegal gun owners in exchange for a $500 reward.  …

New Yorkers can call the “Gun Tip Line” if they believe someone they know has an illegal gun. Hotline calls are answered by state police and tips are referred to local law enforcement, the station reported.“This initiative seeks to turn neighbor against neighbor and use their own tax dollars to pay for the $500 reward,” Republican Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin told the station.

via Fox News.

It really is 1984, Fahrenheit 451, and Brave New World all rolled into one.

Sixty years of modern liberalism and brought us to this point.  People too dumb to know that they’re marching themselves into the arms of a dictator.

Keep watching Dancing with the Stars!!  Your government owns you.  You’re no longer free.  You’re nothing.  You’re like a damn battery in the Matrix.  Just putting out enough effort to keep the machine running so the government can pretend to protect you.

You should be ashamed of yourself.  God knows the minority of us are ashamed of you.  It’s time to wake up and redeem yourself.  Please.

Black Leaders Oppose Gun Control

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RABZq5IoaQ]

“There is a direct correlation between Gun Control and Black People Control.”

“Black Codes to deny the Second Amendment to recently freed slaves.”

“When they take our guns is when they will take our God.  And that is when America will fight back.”

Amen to that!!

Not since Lincoln has a president so divided the country into people for and against their government.  Maybe it’s something about presidents from Illinois.  Don’t know.  Don’t care.  But what we need is someone who can unite us as the ways we are all similar far exceed the ways we are different.  But the greatest way to all get along is to may sure that each person is free.  We much give each other liberty.  And right now it appears that being free from the government would be the greatest thing of all.