Yesterday we spotlighted a story about a Florida family driving through Maryland and mysteriously being targeted for a police stop.  They were questioned about owning a gun, detained, searched, their car contents emptied – searched, and after approximately 90 minutes to 2 hours of detention during the search they were released.

Obviously for the driver, John Filippidis, and his family, this was alarming.   What would prompt the Maryland Transportation Authority Police (MTAP) to randomly select their vehicle?

Because the first question to Mr. Filippidis was about his gun ownership, and the police search for the gun was based on his gun ownership, the Florida CCW permit that Filippidis holds was identified as the most likely impetus for the stop, questioning and search.   [His firearm was locked in a safe in his Florida home]

This strikes us as highly alarming – so we contacted MTAP and we immediately filed public records requests to research what took place.

However, our interest has also spurred numerous contacts, tips and directions to help understand what’s going on.    We now know where else to look to find out what exactly is going on.   Mr. Filippidis’ experience is merely the tip of the iceberg.

What is written below explains how the family was targeted; why the family was targeted; and what intentions were behind the MTAP engagement. (more…)

Jacob Appelbaum is a US citizen and core member of TOR project (funded originally to provide internet communication security).  He writes open source software, is an independent security software developer, activist hacker and passionate resister to tyranny.
He has stated in past interviews that he believes “personal privacy and institutional transparency are complementary ideas that help to create a free and open society …..Tor is part of an ecosystem of software that helps people regain and reclaim their autonomy. It helps to enable people to have agency of all kinds; it helps others to help each other and it helps you to help yourself. It runs, it is open and it is supported by a large community spread across all walks of life.”
Appelbaum eloquently discusses warrantless or “open writ” dragnet surveillance as “turnkey tyranny” and posits that the black budget agencies that engage in such surveillance are violating the 3rd Amendment Rights of US Citizens, likening the actions of the NSA to de facto “digital soldiers” being quartered in our homes without our knowledge or permission. (more…)

Once you get on the train, you can’t get off til the ride’s over….   
ObamaCare is virtually, and literally, connected to every aspect of your life.   Through the multi-platform Health exchange sites all of your personal data is transmitted to various governmental agencies including the IRS, HHS and Banking Networks.    Any data transaction you make -to reflect any actual activity in your life- with your residence, your job, your bank, your tax filings, purchases, registrations etc. are recorded into your federal database of activity where they can be monitored for regulatory and compliance oversight or audits.   – BE CAREFUL !
You should be cautious to provide information about your personal finances and banking. These stories [outlined below] are going to grow exponentially as people realize the magnitude of the tentacles of regulation and compliance.
WASHINGTON – For the second week in a row, the Washington Healthplanfinder website is down, and it’s causing problems for people who are dealing with billing issues. Some of them say the website is mistakenly debiting their accounts.

Shannon Bruner of Indianola logged on to her checking account Monday morning, and found she was almost 800 dollars in the negative.
“The first thing I thought was, ‘I got screwed,’” she said. (more…)

LetJusticePrevail shares: […]  For anyone interested, this link provides access to the full video of the FL Criminal Justice Subcommittee hearing yesterday that listened to debate on HB 4003 that called for the repeal of the FL Stand Your Ground law.
The hearing (and video) was FIVE HOURS long, and it may not be something you want to watch, so here’s the long and short of it:
The committee rejected the bill by a vote of 11-2, (voting FOR the repeal were Dems Randolph Bracy and Kionne McGhee) and the SYG law WILL remain in place. The other bill (HB 89) that addresses proposed changes to the SYG law (but not repeal)and the 10-20-life sentencing guidelines was approved by a vote of 12-1 and will be sent to the general legislature.(only McGhee opposed HB 89, on the argument that it was an “exception to an exception to an exception to an exception and that there were better ways to address the issue of mandatory sentences in of aggravated assault, rather than including them under the umbrella of immunity as provided under statute 776).
So, the repeal of FL’s SYG law died in subcommittee, and the bill that would EXPAND  immunity to include cases where the mere THREAT of force was used in cases of self defense PASSED to be heard by the legislature. These were BOTH victories for FL citizens, and their rights to defend themselves. (more…)

Society, for those beyond their 3rd decade, is visibly shifting.   For the others it’s less identifiable.
The water is warm, very warm, and the sensible frogs know what lies ahead.   The sensible frogs can detect the subtle variance in the slow increase of water temperature.
This shift is a natural, and historically proven outcome, from progressive advancement.  It has existed for as long as man has associated for common aggregation – it continues today.
Nothing about this is new or uncharted territory.
This place, where we are today, has been visited by societies long before the U.S. Republic was formed.
Such is the manner and purpose for our sharing the constructs of safety.    The news articles you sense, and see us highlight, have little to do with the victim or the suspect; nor their intents and purposes.
No, these news articles are shared to advise the acceptance, and stimulate the understanding, that no person should be naïve as to consider themselves beyond the capacity of their family to be the next 3rd page mention. (more…)

What: Audit the IRS Rally
When: Wednesday, June 19, 2013 from Noon – 2pm
Where: West Lawn of the US Capitol

WHY?

Either they provided the information, OR, the administration is accepting the NSA tapping into the massive computer servers that drive the internet.

GUARDIAN UK – Two different versions of the PRISM scandal were emerging on Thursday with Silicon Valley executives denying all knowledge of the top secret program that gives the National Security Agency direct access to the internet giants’ servers.

The eavesdropping program is detailed in the form of PowerPoint slides in a leaked NSA document, seen and authenticated by the Guardian, which states that it is based on “legally-compelled collection” but operates with the “assistance of communications providers in the US.”

Each of the 41 slides in the document displays prominently the corporate logos of the tech companies claimed to be taking part in PRISM. (more…)

fyi, an insider detail – We can secondarily confirm the information provided within this Wall Street Journal report. Those of you who have been with the Treehouse community since the beginning may remember a conversation thread about the “new age” credit cards that allow capability of RFID transmission. [symbols: ((( )))  and Ξ ]  One of our close friends actually quit his job in disgust over the use of his computer program -a central component to the RFID system- being used to embed internally into credit cards with the expressed intent on tracking user id, location, history etc.  He knew the potential risk several years ago, and sent a warning – we shared – it appears this is now coming to light.

WASHINGTON (WSJ) —The National Security Agency’s monitoring of Americans includes customer records from the three major phone networks as well as emails and Web searches, and the agency also has cataloged credit-card transactions, said people familiar with the agency’s activities.

The disclosure this week of an order by a secret U.S. court for Verizon Communications Inc.’s phone records set off the latest public discussion of the program. But people familiar with the NSA’s operations said the initiative also encompasses phone-call data from AT&T Inc. and Sprint Nextel Corp., records from Internet-service providers and purchase information from credit-card providers.

(more…)

Most articles discussing “Prepper Motivation” focus on simplistic words like ‘Apocalypse’, and ‘The End of Civilization’ when they highlight information. In general the media portray ‘those who prepare’ as some kind of goof or wing-nut; That is profoundly unfair.

Think of those people in Long Island after Hurricane Sandy, do you think their lives would have been better if they were prepared to be totally self-sufficent for a month or more.

The example of anarchy in New Orleans should still be fresh on the minds of those who would ridicule or diminish such prudence, yet they do it anyway.

Having had personal experience in dealing with the total fracturing of societal rules of governance, along with the collapse of civil and moral rules on self-controlling behavior, I can tell you it ain’t pretty…. and most people have no idea how bad it can get – QUICKLY.

(Daily Mail Article)  Imagine if suddenly, and completely without warning, the world experienced a total blackout – no electricity, no mobile phones, no banks, no internet, no TV, no emergency services. Nothing.

Highways quickly become jammed with cars that have ground to a halt; an aeroplane falls from the sky; a satellite view of the planet shows it rapidly plunging into darkness.

As it becomes apparent that the lights are never coming back on, nations are plunged into chaos, mass riots break out in major cities and, without electricity, governments are toppled. Into the vacuum step ad-hoc militias, armed and ready to enforce their own rule of law. (more…)