Muslim print shop stores will now be open to litigation if they refuse to depict their prophet Mohammed on customer T-Shirts.  Muslim restaurant owners are now open to litigation if they refuse to make Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato sandwiches….. oh yeah, and Catholics business owners are now open to civil rights litigation if they refuse to participate in same sex marriage activities…..

(Raw Story) – After days of protests and criticism levied against her state, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) said on Wednesday that she vetoed SB 1062, which would have effectively legalized discrimination based on religious grounds.

Brewer said she had not heard of one example of religious freedoms being attacked without the bill, considered it broadly worded, and did not address any specific concerns.

She further said that SB 1062 “has the potential to create more problems than it purports to solve” and would be divisive “to a degree that no one would ever want.” (read more)

The FCC claims on second thought it “may not have been appropriate” to question the media and monitor newsrooms.   Gee, ya think ?

WASHINGTON DC – The Federal Communications Commission announced Friday that it was putting on hold a controversial study of American newsrooms, after complaints from Republican lawmakers and media groups that the project was too intrusive.

FCC spokeswoman Shannon Gilson said Chairman Tom Wheeler agreed with critics that some of the study’s proposed questions for reporters and news directors “may not have been appropriate.” (more…)

“Reporters Without Borders”,  a watchdog organization headquartered in Paris, France and known by its French acronym, “RSF”, has published its annual “World Press Freedom Index”.

Liberty Blitzkrieg brings to our attention that in the great march FORWARD!, the US was a front runner in the stakes for greatest loss of press freedom in year over year results – slipping an impressive 13 slots  from #33 last year to #46 on the 2014 world ranking, after Romania but before Haiti.

There were some “non-surprises”, such as North Korea and Eritrea remaining at the back of the pack, but also some pleasant surprises with tiny Belize clocking in at an impressive #29, hanging out in the “free press” band with Australia at #28.

Clearly, much work remains to be done before the US can be satisfied that the people’s work is completed and it can comfortably hang in the 100’s with its pals in the middle east and Africa.  Maybe that will provide the necessary incentive to Dirty Harry in the Senate to get working on that innertubes kill switch.  In the meantime, those pesky bloggers keep bringing up stuff like Benghazi, or Warrantless Wiretaps, or the ever expanding use of technology to spy on and monitor its own citizens.

The 2014 World Press Freedom Index spotlights the negative impact of conflicts on freedom of information and its protagonists. The ranking of some countries has also been affected by a tendency to interpret national security needs in an overly broad and abusive manner to the detriment of the right to inform and be informed. This trend constitutes a growing threat worldwide and is even endangering freedom of information in countries regarded as democracies. Finland tops the index for the fourth year running, closely followed by Netherlands and Norway, like last year. At the other end of the index, the last three positions are again held by Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea, three countries where freedom of information is non-existent.

The Alarming Case of Justin Carter, Facebook “Terrorist”

[…]  When speech is a crime, thought is a crime, because when punishing speech the authorities are actually punishing what they think — or want jurors to think — was meant by the speech. Even when acting in good faith, people misinterpret. Since no one reads minds, it is a good thing the First Amendment protects our speech.

Unfortunately the First Amendment, like the rest of the Constitution, has been under siege recently. Otherwise any speech that does not represent a clear and present danger to other people’s safety would be protected.

Punishable speech is one area where liberty skates on thin of ice. Despite the obvious need for security, “terroristic threat” is another:

According to the indictment, Carter’s statement met two of the necessities required by state law: His words were uttered “with the intent to place the public or a substantial group of the public in fear of serious bodily injury,” or uttered “with the intent to cause impairment or interruption of public communications, public transportation, public water, gas, or power supply or other public service.”

Too bad Justin couldn’t have loaned the authorities his sense of humor, because that would never pass the laugh test.  (read the entire article)

(more…)

Perhaps this explains why Maryland was so sensitive to avoid any inquiry in the case of John Filippidis.    It certainly sounds like the Maryland Coordination and Analysis Hub is but a mere test venue for a larger federally linked data hub of the same information.

Were the feds using Maryland to establish the protocols ?   It sure seems that is a very strong possibility…… and, if so, the denial of the FOIA would make even more sense.

In Mr. Filippidis example the “hot list – target vehicles” appeared to be CCW holders.

WASHINGTON DC – The Department of Homeland Security is set to activate a national license plate tracking system that will be shared with law enforcement, allowing DHS officers to take photos of any license plate using their smartphone and upload it to a database which will include a “hot list” of “target vehicles”.

The details are included in a PDF attachment uploaded yesterday to the Federal Business Opportunities website under a solicitation entitled “National License Plate Recognition Database.” (more…)

David Simon, a former police beat reporter in Baltimore, MD and creator of the popular television series, “The Wire” implies that Libertarians in America are “greedy” and decries Libertarianism as a “juvenile” idea that he “just can’t get past….”  

Clearly upset that Fabian ideology is not taking root in the 20-somethings community, while the Libertarian movement is growing as an identified political affiliation in the cohort,  he gave a speech in Australia in November, 2013 at the “Dangerous Ideas” conference declaring “Libertarianism in my country is now being taken seriously as an intelligent mode of political thought… it’s astonishing to me… ” (around the 8:00 – 10:00 mark) and then goes on a screed to deliberately disparage and attempt to dismiss the Libertarian school of thought – including the assertion that Libertarians are “anti-government” (as Moyers chuckles along in agreement…)  Fraidy cat!

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Flashing your headlights to warn other drivers of a speed trap is constitutionally protected speech, said a Missouri judge earlier this week.

You’ve all done it, right?  Say you’re driving down the road and you see this police car lying in wait to pull over some poor sucker.  So, being the nice person you are, you flash your headlights a couple of times to alert the traffic in the opposite direction.   Funny thing though….the police don’t seem to appreciate your kind gesture.   You don’t think they’re annoyed because our warning each other of these speed traps means their police departments make less money? (Sarcasm alert)

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[HatTip GatewayPundit for some particulars] – I hope EVERYONE watches the accompanying videos.  It is imperative that EVERYONE understands the full-throated attack currently underway by our own government.   Only by fully understanding the scope of the issue can you fully absorb the danger in front of us. 

The testimony today on capitol hill was blood boiling to say the least. During hearings about IRS targeting of conservative groups, which unlike President Obama’s claim appears fraught with political scandal, some of the victims began to lay out the details of the attacks they have endured.

One of those victims is Mrs. Catherine Engelbrecht. Catherine Eghelbrecht is a conservative activist, Tea Party member and founder of True the Vote. Mrs. Engelbrecht, outlined how she has been the specific target of FOUR federal agencies (The FBI, IRS, ATF and OSHA) along with one Texas State agency (EPA).

Prior to her founding of True The Vote, as a simple business person, she was never on the federal radar. However, as soon as she engaged in advocacy for her beliefs she was targeted by the “weaponization of government”. 14 IRS audits of personal and business finances, 4 times visited by the FBI as a ‘domestic risk’, 3 times visited by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, and two audits by The Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (more…)

h/t Brent Bozell, freedom Warrior at NewsBusters:

You’re Right to Choose This Movie

“…Inspired by the real-life story of Kathy DiFiore, the founder of Several Sources Shelters, writer and director Ronald Krauss wrote his original screenplay while spending a year in a shelter for pregnant teens, and based it on the lives of several of the shelter mothers.

Krauss wasn’t the only one who was inspired. Brendan Fraser asked to be in the movie after reading the script and spent time in the shelters with the mothers and the babies. On the last day of shooting, Krauss said Fraser “quietly told Kathy that he was donating his salary to the shelter, so he actually did the movie for nothing. It was a complete surprise to all of us.”

(more…)

Saturday 1/18/14,  a man wearing Google Glasses (prescription glass) went to enjoy a movie with his wife.  A showing of Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit at an AMC theater in Columbus, Ohio.

About an hour  into the movie,  federal agents yanked the Glasses off the man’s face,  pulled them out of the theater and took them to separate interrogation rooms.

The Story is Confirmed –  And Also outlined HERE – The man, who’d just been trying to enjoy a crappy movie with his lovely wife  on a Saturday night, says he was accused of illegally taping the movie and  questioned extensively about “who I am, where I live, where I work, how much I’m  making, how many computers I have at home, why am I recording the movie, who am  I going to give the recording to, why don’t I just give up the guy up the chain,  ’cause they are not interested in me. Over and over and over again.”

The agents also allegedly displayed this level of ridiculousness:

They wanted to know where I got Glass and how did I came by having it. I  told them I applied about 1000 times to get in the explorer program, and  eventually I was selected, and I got the Glass from Google. I offered to show  them receipt and Google Glass website if they would allow me to access any  computer with internet. Of course, that was not an option. Then they wanted to  know what does Google ask of me in exchange for Glass, how much is Google paying  me, who is my boss and why am I recording the movie.

After an hour of intense interrogation, the agents hooked the Glass up  to a computer, and saw that all it was storing were personal family  photos, he says. They allegedly went through his phone, too, and  found nothing. (more…)