BIG brother

Wow... Though this Executive Order has been around since Truman (no big surprise there), I did not realize what our government is prepared to do at any time they decide it is necessary.

I mean, I'm not really surprised, but after reading the Executive Order in its entirety (do I know how to celebrate my Friday nights, or what?!) I'm quite ill at ease about seeing the ways our government plans to implement martial law "during peacetime, graduated mobilization, and national emergency."

Here is a paragraph derived mostly from a Snopes article describing it in an alarmist way. They say it is a false claim in that the government doesn't actually have the power, but they do have plans on the books to make it so:

• The National Defense Resources Preparedness Executive Order [defines the need for plans that] allows the nationalization of pretty much the entire USA, even in peace time, if the President desires.
• They can, under this order, restrict civilian travel by any mode. They can close our roads, highways and interstates, they can set up check points anywhere.
• They can ration food, gasoline and electricity.
• They can restrict water usage, even from private wells.
• They can ration health care, including any and all drugs, including OTC and vitamins.
• They can collectivize farms and the food processing/distribution system.
• They can take over all energy production, including home solar units.
• They can take over our factories and command what they should produce.
• They can take charge of the resources (natural or otherwise) needed to keep the nationalized factories churning.
• They can draft civilians into the military.
• If they have need of your skills, they can compel you to work for no compensation.

I am pretty sure this isn't what our founding fathers had in mind when discussing and framing our liberties and freedoms... And just because they're planning it without having executed it doesn't really make it much better, in spite of what the press would have you believe.

And that they can implement these plans at any time by declaring a "National Emergency" is just plain old messed up. Technically, they don't even have to do that!

This is why I keep saying: We need more options. We need a party that would see this and say "WOAH! I AIN'T SIGNING THAT SHIT!" Every president, republican and democrat for over 50 years has put their name at the bottom of revisions of this Executive Order. I think we deserve a president that wouldn't dare sign off on such an un-American travesty of everything we supposedly stand for.

Meanwhile, the media keeps us busy arguing about who is gonna pay for condoms, whether or not we'll be forced to buy health insurance, and how each state is going to vote for Romnetorum...

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

read the EO yourself:Executive Order -- National Defense Resources Preparedness(whitehouse.gov)

NDAA - Natural Disposition to Apprehend Americans

Meh... Bad title... This whole post is just an excuse to re-post of a Facebook rant I wrote tonight. It has everything to do with this blog, in that our tax dollar supported government is doing shit that is most-certainly not in our best interest... This is far more political than I like to go with this blog, but at least I show that my intent is non-partisan (even though the hate is directed at the current president).

Straight to the rant:

A post and some responses led me to write an Obama is better than Bush comment on a friends wall. In it, I referred to wars and Bin Laden - easy pickin's for a Obama vs. Bush thread. However, with my bent on moderation and the necessity for more political parties and less polarization, I couldn't go out like that. So, I took a minute to articulate my main hate on Obama too. Having finally put words to a thought that has been bugging me for a few weeks, I thought I'd cut'n'paste 'n' share:
---
Why Obama should indeed be shown the door:

1.) He is the first president in the history of our great nation that signed a bill into law allowing the federal government to apprehend and detain any one of us as long as they want. The only requirement is that they claim the detention is based on suspicion of "terrorism or supporting terrorists." That he signed it 'reluctantly' is irrelevant. That the current administration may never use this power is irrelevant. That our government can abduct us and make us disappear is unacceptable.
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/317046

2.) The federal government has equated cannabis use as terrorism in the past. In an ad ran by the Office of National Drug Control Policy during the Bush years, "Sharing a joint in your friend's back yard" was described as support of terrorism.
http://www.cannabis-marijuana.com/drugterrorist.html

Put 1 and 2 together and we are not that far away from the government rounding up pot heads and detaining them indefinitely, without charges, without the ability to defend themselves in the courts. While this is extreme and highly unlikely, Obama's signature on that bill make this a possibility. That some future administration, in even more polarized times may take up the mantle of ending the war on drugs once and for all, is a possibility that seems unimaginable today.

Again, I point out that we need more options because it is starting to feel like 1984 up in here. With republicans we're screwed, with democrats we're shafted. Either way, I'm not loving it, no matter how many times McDonalds tries to tell me otherwise.
---

After reviewing the cut'n'paste, I realized it is a bit centered on cannabis users. While some of the best people I know regularly use cannabis, I'm trying to illustrate the truly profound depth of this law. While it is easy to draw the connection to highlight the contrast between everyone's favorite pot head and people who support terrorists, I'm not just talking about hungry people that don't feel like getting off the couch to find food. The vagueness of the terrorism charges is intense and by being forbidden due process, the government cannot be held accountable. A sitting administration can round up its opposition, claim terrorism, and lock them up. Period. No review. No chance to call bullshit. Nothing. Gone for good with no avenue for recourse.

Not acceptable. We need to be far more pissed off about this than we are. Screw the 99% vs. 1%... The Patriot Act didn't even go this far. This is the kind of thing we expect from China, Russia, or Saudi Arabia. This is not what we expected the founding father's vision of freedom in our country to turn into.

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

Final exam

This Graphic brought to us by Americans Against The Tea Party.

THIS is whyfloridianspaytaxes.

Legistlaters gonna legislate

Now that we've established that pizza is a vegetable and re-affirmed our national motto, lets get down to some serious work!

Guinea raid!

Some brilliant police work and a questionable way to gain probable cause warrants led to the police investigating a hotspot in a primary school teacher's garage.

Cops taking part in the big pot growing operation bust turned out to find a couple guinea pigs enjoying themselves under a heat lamp.

Yes. Some police departments regularly fly over homes looking for irregular heat signatures. Apparently the damage to the environment and law enforcement budgets is well worth making it hard for those rowdy, no good potheads to get their fix.

By rowdy, I mean lethargic.
By no good, I mean hungry.

THIS is whybritspaytaxes.

read more: Bradford cannabis raid finds guinea pig heater(bbc)

Another criminal tweet

At least this one didn't end in jail time. In fact, the fine helps to pay for the police and court time involved...

A man has been fined £3,000 for this tweet:
Robin Hood Airport is closed. You've got a week... otherwise I'm blowing the airport sky high!

The statute he violated is 'sending a menacing electronic communication'

Even the officer 'investigating' the 'case' said this was ridiculous.

Show me pictures of people fleeing the RH Airport in a snowstorm, tears freezing to their faces as they huddle in fear of the imminent explosion. Then I'll get behind a fine for this guy...

Until then, the Brits have GOT to stop trying to arrest and try everyone that has access to a keyboard because they don't like what was posted on the Internet.

THIS is whyBRITSpaytaxes.

Read more: Man in Twitter bomb threat against airport loses appeal(bbc)

Cleaning the Crazy right out of the Internet:
http://whyipaytaxes.blogspot.com/2010/11/more-arrests-over-bad-comments.html
http://whyipaytaxes.blogspot.com/2010/10/rude-enough-for-imprisonment.html
http://whyipaytaxes.blogspot.com/2008/10/virtual-crime-real-bars-in-window.html

More arrests over bad comments

Wow... The Brits are going a bit overboard with arresting and trying people who have the audacity to speak their mind on the Internet.

About a week ago, I posted about a jail sentence for a guy who posts horrendous comments on Facebook tribute pages for the recently deceased. Yeah. World class douchebag... But don't go changing the privacy settings of your Facebook tribute pages just yet, 'cause they got him. The Internet is once again a safe place to surf.

The new story is about a guy who tweeted that a writer he disagreed with should be stoned to death.
Unreasonable comment? Yes.
Horrendous comment? Yes.
Ignorant pig? You betcha.

If I were the writer in question, I would make not following his tweets a very high priority on today's to do list.

Did he throw the first stone? No.
Did he actually try to arrange the stoning? No.
Should he be arrested and thrown in jail for typing what he wanted into a service designed to allow anyone to post whatever they want? NO!

That he was a government official ought to lead to him losing his job. That would be reasonable. A forced public apology has been done, the woman in question has not been stoned.
Did he really need to be handcuffed and arrested? Did he really need to be bailed out of prison, or to hire a defense lawyer to stand trial? Because of a 140 characters or less?

... ... Beats having a freedom of speech!

THIS is whyBRITSpaytaxes.

read more: Tory councillor arrested over Twitter stoning post(bbc)

The offending tweet was quite obviously a terrible attempt at being funny on a subject where this guy has no reason getting involved:
Can someone please stone Yasmin Alibhai-Brown to death? I shan't tell Amnesty if you don't. It would be a blessing, really.

Rude enough for imprisonment

Colm 'Decency Free' Coss of Ardwick, Manchester (UK) is a world class loser. He found great joy in opening fake Facebook accounts and defiling tribute pages of the recently deceased. He seems to enjoy telling the traumatized family that he enjoyed having sex with the corpse of their loved ones.

Yeah. A real peach. A real fucking stand-up guy. The kind of guy you wouldn't mind meeting in a dark alley with a bunch of your friends.

So, how to handle this?
Do we stop making Facebook tribute pages? Nope. Couldn't do that. People like having tribute pages.
Perhaps we could set the comments section to be reviewed and approved? Nope. Couldn't do that. People like having tribute pages open to anyone in the world. After all, its a tribute page, no one would disrespect that!

Naw. Screw all that. Lets just throw him in jail!

After all, he was Very Mean in a public forum. And Very Mean people should be in jail!

Its a lot like the girl who recently decided to invite the entire world to her birthday party, then was surprised that a handful of them actually RSVPd to attend.
When will people learn that when you choose to allow the general public into your life online, its not just the fun ones that will show up?

Trial, room, and board because a disturbed man posted tasteless comments in a forum designed to allow anyone to post anything they want...

THIS is whyBRITSpaytaxes.

Read more: Jade Goody website 'troll' from Manchester jailed(bbc)

A laptop for every child

'Cause I wanna see 'em naked!

A school district in Pennsylvania was forward thinking enough to secure funding for a laptop for every child in school. This gave the children the opportunity to access the school's and other Internet resources 24 hours a day. I suppose there are many who were unhappy to hear about their tax dollars at work in this way but at the end of the day, its all about the kids.

What the school district failed to point out is that they had a tracking device installed into each machine that gave the administration the opportunity to access the web cam and screen shots of the computer at any time, anywhere. Should your daughter forget to shut down her laptop before drying off after a shower, ol' Mr. Weatherbee could be right there snapping still photos for his collection.

The school is bending over backwards to explain that the tracking devices were only installed into the machines in case of theft or 'lost' laptops. They even have the balls to say that this is the only way these tracking devices have ever been used. How is it that certain teachers are able to scold the children for "engaging in improper behavior in [their] home" if they've never had an opportunity to see inside their home?

One of the creepiest parts for me: It seems pretty obvious that the teachers were made aware of this device and even trained on its usage and passwords. Its not that the tracking system was under lock and key waiting for the police to get called in on a stolen laptop. No. These kids are being watched by teachers after hours, in their homes, with no provocation, and no probable cause.

Watching our teenagers. Closely...

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

read more:US school accused of web spying(bbc)

Tracking our citizens

The government has gone to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit in Philadelphia to defend its rights to your cell phone's whereabouts. They are stridently defending their right to know where your cell phone has been and where it is right now without a search warrant or any oversight whatsoever.

You know whats worse? I heard this story on Marketplace, got to thinking, and started this post. As I typed out 'The government has' I paused. I wanted to be more specific and tell you what part of the government, what department was spending their money and wasting the courts time exercising their right to your privacy. The thing is, I couldn't easily find out who it was. The story I heard, the story as Fox tells it, the story at Reuters, Press TV, etc. all tell a story about The Government or A Government Petition or The Government Appeals etc. Some mention the DEA or the FBI, but this is only when they talk about who will take advantage of the ruling if it is allowed, not who is making the case.

You mean to tell me the whole damn government needs to know where I am and where I've been?

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

How dare we legislate without input from Europe

In October of 1998, the Fairness in Music Licensing Act was passed in the U.S. in a way that amended our copyright laws. The FMLA permits, under certain conditions, the playing of radio and television music in public places (bars, shops, restaurants, etc.) without the payment of a royalty fee.

Seems pretty fair to me. Having a television in the waiting room or a game on at the bar is a matter of convenience. I'd have a hard time believing that said television was the draw that brought people through the door. No royalty fees are necessary because no profit is being made from the content being displayed.
A matter of discussion, to be sure, but I'm not sure its a discussion we need to have with the world.
But, Oh No, Not This Time.

5 months after our law was enacted, a handful of, and I quote, 'European Communities' went to the World Trade Organization to complain. Of course, the WTO summarily discovered that a substantial majority of eating and drinking establishments and close to half of retail establishments were covered by the business exemption.
I've yet to see any reason for the Europeans to step into what we do in our establishments, but to this, they cry foul. This apparently violates an agreement we signed long before.

Seeing that the 'European Communities' were on to something and that the WTO was about to start shitting U.S. tax dollars, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, and Switzerland jumped on board to complain of this as 'third parties.'

Of course, the WTO found us at fault. Demanded we change our laws and fined us a great deal of money. Money of which we are paying to this day.

I've already gone far enough, if not too far in this relatively uninteresting bit of bureaucratic red tape. But I'll summarize:
Because we adjusted our copyright law to allow businesses run a television in their establishment, we are attacked, sued, fined and ordered to pay restitution to a random smattering of countries from around the world. (Explain to me how our law affected Japan and why they have a right to damages from us because I watched a game at the bar last week)

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

read more: DISPUTE SETTLEMENT: DISPUTE DS160 (WTO)
(Thanks to a Slate story for the link)

Modern day castle

This story is really quite sad...


A judge in Britain can't stand the fact that a farmer built this house in spite of having been told it would violate zoning ordinances. So, the farmer went and found himself a loophole which allows anyone to keep a building that violates such ordinances if the building had been in place for at least 4 years. Our friendly farmer simply stacked up walls of hay bails to conceal his progress in building his castle with nary a complaint. 4 years after he and his family moved in, he pulled down the hay bails and likely gave himself a content pat on the back for finding a way to complete his life's dream home.

Well, this just broils the judge. How dare the citizenry do as they see fit while taking advantage of loopholes written into the law? Now, the judge is demanding that this man tear down his castle. The logic: The hay bails was a part of the structure that stood for the 4 years. When he pulled down the hay bails from around his home, the judge rules that he substantially changed the structure thereby opening himself back up to the local zoning ordinances.

A beautiful home that would likely stand for centuries. Gone over a silly ordinance. No complaints, just an ordinance.

THIS is whybritspaytaxes.

Slow erosion

Here are a few examples of the 40,697 laws that came into effect 1/1/10 around the country which represent the slow erosion of individual personal freedoms. Not only do these laws tell individuals and businesses how to conduct their speech and their actions, they also took a great deal of bureaucratic debating and administrative effort to enact them at a significant cost to us all.

North Carolina and Wisconsin are among a handful of states who have decided to tell bar owners, restaurateurs, and other places of business who would have otherwise chosen to allow their patrons the freedom to smoke while visiting their establishment. (Wisconsins law won't go into effect until later in 2010...)

Oregon and Illinois are among a handful of states that are telling you what you can and cannot do while driving a car. A great law? Yes. Slow erosion of personal freedoms? Yes. An added burden of enforcement and public notification? Yup.

California is limiting the ingredients restaurateurs can feed their customers. (Trans fat ban)

New Hampshire and a few others had to take the time to point out that anyone can get married no matter what my god thinks about the groom and groom.

Texas, Michigan and a few others are demanding that cigarettes sold in their state are manufactured a particular way. (Fire safe...)

Arkansas retailers can't sell realistic looking toy guns.

Massachusetts has banned dog racing.

In Ireland blasphemy has been made illegal with fines up to $35,000. Yes. Insulting my god now costs you money. Its nice to see Atheist Ireland trying to make a stand though. READ MORE (BBC)

THIS is whyweallpaytaxes.

TRY VIAGRA

Here's another one of those things where I agree with the spirit of the law, but find it really fucking ridiculous that our Representatives and Senators have nothing better to do than to legislate what we in the land of the free can and cannot do.

Since Congress is bored with the economy, health care, war, other war, social injustice, environment, failing infrastructure, a country hemorrhaging manufacturing jobs, etc. etc., they decided it was time to tackle one of the truly monumental issues of our time:
Loud commercials.

Perhaps they could legislate that all remote control manufacturer's make a bigger mute button instead?

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

Read more: US moves to ban 'excessively noisy' TV advertisements (bbc)

Midwest day of rest for car dealerships

Can anyone fathom why most of the states in the Great Lakes Region have taken the time to write up, debate, and vote on whether or not car dealerships should be allowed to set their own hours? At least Michigan, Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, and Wisconsin have made it illegal for car dealerships to conduct business on Sundays.

I can't imagine the scenario that made this the important issue that had to be dealt with that day...

THIS is whyipaytaxes.

Hey Sarge, I think we better confiscate this Wii

I know, this is a pretty old one, but I missed it the first time around. As luck would have it, it has recently been added to the FailBlog.org site for voting so I didn't miss it this time 'round.

Back in September, a few different police departments got together for a good ol' fashioned drug raid. Luckily for them, no one was home.

How is this lucky you ask?

Because they didn't even have to ask to play dude's Wii!

Yes. After the initial rush of making sure the house was cleared of evil doers, these officers opted for the more engaging rush of Wii Bowling.
I insist that you watch at least parts of the video... Be amazed with me as the female officer jumps up and down, leaping for joy as she rolls strike after strike. Watch as many different officers wait their turn. And then there's this confusing little diddy at the end where an officer chooses to pantomime his fucking a person doggy style while spanking his partner's ass. I suspect, though have my doubts, that this imaginary mate was of the opposite sex...

So there you have it. Outstanding personal and professional conduct. I'm impressed, officers. Thoroughly impressed.

THIS is whyFLORIDIANSpaytaxes.

Clean Air Iowa

Millions of tons of concrete and blacktop poured on the Earths surface for our convenience.
Check.

Millions of tons of CO2 in the atmosphere to bring that concrete, dig a path, and pour it for our convenience.
Check.

Millions of tons of CO2 in the atmosphere from commuters, road trippers, semi trucks, and people bringing their vacation RVs that could house several 3rd world families.
Check.

BUT DON'T YOU DARE SMOKE A FUCKING CIGARETTE IN AN OPEN-AIR REST AREA ON THE SIDE OF THE INTERSTATE IN IOWA! That shit could kill you!

Yes. The State Legislature of Iowa has so little to do, it took the time to write, debate, and pass a law banning cigarette smoking in rest areas along the Interstates. Because, when they rest 100 yards from some of the busiest Interstate traffic in the country, they don't want to inhale air pollution.

Hell, there was probably more pollution emitted into the air when they manufactured, painted, transported and installed several of these signs in every rest area in the state.

But its the second hand smoke thats gonna get you...

THIS is whyIOWANSpaytaxes.

I'm gonna sue [myself]

At least when Well Fargo sues itself, it has the common decency of hiring two different law firms to prosecute and defend itself.

This is not the case when the Kauai County Government in Hawaii decides to sue itself! Instead, they spend $250,000 dollars and have the county attorney represent both sides of the case against itself.

Here's the deal:
The local residents are being taxed out of their homes. Its not a matter of not keeping up with the mortgage, its a matter of property values being driven so high by out of state speculators that the residents can no longer afford the taxes on their long owned but newly valued homes. Which is fine by the county government, because that means they can pull in tax money from the out of towners and run record budgets as high as $123 MILLION! I mean, what county doesn't need to spend that kind of money on day to day operations?

So the residents, silly as it sounds, decided to pretend like they lived in a democracy. They got a measure on the ballot that caps the property taxes on any home that is owner-occupied. In spite of heavy lobbying by the county government and using the tax gains in a coordinated attack on the ballot measure, it passed by a 2 to 1 margin.

Rather than accepting defeat and trying to get by on tax revenues most counties only dream of, they decided their best course of action was to sue itself. This way, they could get the court to declare that the people of the county had no right to propose and vote on the ballot measure. The Hawaii Supreme Court agreed, saying that only the county government has a right to police itself, not the citizens.

Sometimes the articles I summarize do it better themselves:
Now, under Hawaii law, when government officials do not agree with the outcome of an election, they are free to concoct a friendly lawsuit, fund the litigation with taxpayer money, and ask a local court to strike the measure down.

THIS is whyhawaiianspaytaxes.

read more: HAWAII GOVERNMENT SUES ITSELF TO QUASH PROPERTY TAX RELIEF - AND WINS (flashreport.org)

90 in a 30

As we all know and understand, all cops are above the law. They've no need to heed the rules the rest of us 'normies' must follow.

Which is why the cop in this story was going 90 mph in a 30 mph zone where he hit and killed Hayley Adamson a day before she was to take her GCSE exams. He did not have his lights or his siren on, because he didn't want to alert the driver he was pursuing. Pursuing at 90 mph.
(I would assume that by the time you get up to 90 mph, I'm pretty sure the guy you are chasing knows you're there...)

Whats even creepier about this story is the big brother style license plate recognition system that was in use and failed on this occasion by sending the cop on a 90mph chase after a vehicle and its occupant, which were in complete compliance with the law. Basically, there are cameras on the cop car that automatically read and run the license plates of the vehicles around them. With or without probable cause. In this case, it picked up a car that was recently in non-compliance with the law. The system just hadn't been updated yet.

Or how about the cop that pushed a man to the ground because he happened to be within shoving distance? The man was walking home from work and died of a heart attack minutes after this bit of police brutality. Unfortunately his path took him straight through the G20 protests which had a bunch of cops on the edge all riled up to the brim with testosterone.

It may seem a bit of a stretch to complain so specifically about cops in a blog that would lead you to believe its all about government waste. However, cops are a part of the government. Taxpayer dollars pay their salaries, for the buildings and vehicles, and fund technology designed to invade your personal right to privacy. I've said my peace.

Salaries of cops that appear to feel above the law...

THIS is whybritspaytaxes.

P.S. - At least the 90mph cop will sit in prison, and Officer Shovey is suspended pending investigation. When the cops around here in Rockford Illinois hit people, all charges are dropped in the end. And yes, it happens somewhat frequently.

Bad Cops Gone Bad

I never realized, until recently, a pretty obvious use of some of lifes technical advances.

As we all know, there has never been a shortage of police ignorance. Many cops are simply people that couldn't elevate themselves into the position of power they crave any other way. They simply go to a laid back boot camp and suddenly a power over ANYONE has been bestowed along with a gun. Whats not to draw the ignorants?

What there WAS a shortage of until the last couple of decades were video cameras. Specifically, just about anyone and everyone having a camera and deciding to keep it rolling when they got pulled over or were about to experience any sort of interaction with the law.

Even more importantly was the shortage of methods for people to share these videos with each other al a YouTube.

In conclusion, do a few searches on YouTube with the keyword police and a mix of the following keywords: corruption, misconduct, arrogance, incompetence, etc. etc. The wealth of videos to watch will leave you both astounded and queasy. The fact that these guys have been given the right to take away your rights is absolutely amazing and a bit profound.
Don't get me wrong, cops provide a valuable service. I just don't know that mostly pretty poorly educated men should have quite so much power...

Special thanks to badphoenixcops.com for opening my eyes to this obviously rich source of angst against my government. (Not to mention a pretty entertaining read about a pretty darn corrupt police force)

Paying the salaries of incompetence...

THIS is whyipaytaxes.