UPDATED 4/24/13: Abdul Rahman Ali Al-Harbi: Boston bombing ‘person of interest’ has 6 Saudi ‘terrorists’ in family, 5 more are in Gitmo. Visited by Michelle Obama prior to deportation & after Boston bombing | Global Dispatch

Abdul Rahman Ali Al-Harbi in the hospital.

UPDATED 5AM EST Apr 24, 2013:

Confirmation that Abdul Rahman Ali Al-Harbi, the Saudi national and initial “person of interest,” is indeed being deported this week now is spreading across the Internet. More details are emerging this weekend as Arabic sources and Saudi papers themselves are confirming “rumors” swirling in the US. (more at bottom)

Moreover, the Saudi papers are detailing the visit by the Obamas, especially Michelle to the hospital and this man. The “rumors” of the President meeting with Saudi officials in the hospital just prior to his “approved deportation” is a bragging right in their press.

More notable is the assertions that Abdul Rahman Ali Al-Harbi is free an clear of terrorist ties, when in fact over 10 names from his clan are already linked to Al-Qaeda.

Michelle Obama visits Al-Harbi in Boston Hospital? Image source and accuracy unknown

Many from Al-Harbi’s clan are entrenched in terrorism and are members of Al-Qaeda as identified by the Islamic governments.

Out of a list of 85 terrorists listed by the Saudi government shows several of Al-Harbi clan to have been active fighters in Al-Qaeda:

• #15 Badr Saud Uwaid Al-Awufi Al-Harbi
• #73 Muhammad Atiq Uwaid Al-Awufi Al-Harbi
• #26 Khalid Salim Uwaid Al-Lahibi Al-Harbi
• #29 Raed Abdullah Salem Al-Thahiri Al-Harbi
• #43 Abdullah Abdul Rahman Muhammad Al-Harbi (leader)
• #60 Fayez Ghuneim Humeid Al-Hijri Al-Harbi [Source]

Then you have Al-Harbi clan members in Gitmo:

• Salim Salman Awadallah Al-Sai’di Al-Harbi
• Majid Abdullah Hussein Al-Harbi
• Muhammad Abdullah Saqr Al-Alawi Al-Harbi
• Ghanem Abdul Rahman Ghanem Al-Harbi
• Muhammad Atiq Uwaid Al-Awfi Al-Harbi [Source]

Counterterrorism analysts want US mass transit security tightened in wake of plots | Fox News

Bend over, grab your ankles, turn your head and cough, and pee in the cup or we cannot let you on the bus… this is going to get frigging ridiculous, and real quickly.

via Fox News

Counter-terrorism experts have renewed calls to tighten security on America’s mass transit lines following two would-be terrorists’ foiled plot to blow up a Toronto passenger train.

The alleged plan to attack Canada’s transit system has shed light on the vulnerabilities that still exist in America’s commuter system and the challenges involved in keeping it safe for travelers.

“The millions of Americans who take public transportation need to be assured that everything possible is being done to ensure their security and safety,” American Public Transportation Association President and CEO Michael Melaniphy told FoxNews.com on Monday, adding that federal funding should be increased.

… “This country has to change its outlook on day-to-day life,” he said. “We can’t let out guard down.”

.

NY gun law concerns mental health professionals | LeaderHerald

Area mental health professionals say they’re concerned about an aspect of the state’s new gun law requiring them to report potentially dangerous patients.

The New York State SAFE Act includes a section designed to “…remove firearms from those who seek to do harm to themselves or others.” The law requires reporting by doctors, psychologists, licensed clinical social workers and registered nurses to advise authorities.

Since that provision of the law took effect March 16, officials have received at least 30 reports of people whose gun licenses should be reviewed, state police say.

Civil society, not Big Brother, is the American way | WashExam

As with every terrorist attack and high-profile killing, the Boston bombing has prompted calls for Americans to give up civil liberties for the sake of security. Rather than gun control or airport pat-downs, this time the call is for a Big Brother-like network of police cameras allowing authorities to more closely monitor people who move about the streets.

But the story of the Boston bombers — the details of their crime and their capture — makes the opposite argument. We don’t need more government surveillance. We need to maintain robust civil society and public spiritedness.

Here’s Why the NRA Won and Gabby Giffords and Mike Bloomberg Lost | Mother Jones

And as a partial counterpoint to the WSJ article on the same subject, I post this for your consideration.  In a nutshell, the progressives at Mother Jones see gun supporters in the same bile-green light of disgust and noblesse oblige as they have always.   Mother’s view of the NRA, however, as some disembodied corporate entity unrelated to the will (and money) of a large number of American patriots is logically dissonant.  I.e.:

Money, a tragic moment, and public support do not equal political power

Mother Jones —By Andy Kroll | Thu Apr. 18, 2013 1:45 PM PDT

On NBC’s Meet the Press last month, National Rifle Association honcho Wayne LaPierre, the face of the American gun lobby, delivered this message to New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg: ”He’s going to find out that this is a country of the people, by the people, and for the people, and he can’t spend enough of his $27 billion to try to impose his will on the American public. He can’t buy America.” The day before, Bloomberg had announced that he would spend $12 million of his own money on an ad blitz pressing members of Congress to pass new legislation expanding background checks for gun purchases. LaPierre went on national television to tell the mayor that all those millions wouldn’t make the difference in the fight in Congress over new gun laws.

Guess what? LaPierre was right…

The Gun Rights Consensus: The real reasons the Senate trounced the Obama agenda | WSJ

“A pretty shameful day for Washington,” President Obama called it, with “pretty” being the only remnant of his famous cool. In the Rose Garden, Obama blamed the failure of gun control in the Senate Wednesday on three causes:

1. “The gun lobby and its allies willfully lied about the bill.“
2. The Senators who voted against it are cowardly and had “…no coherent arguments as to why we wouldn’t do this. It came down to politics...”
3. And finally”…a minority was able to block it from moving forward…” through “…this continuing distortion of Senate rules.”

The media are amplifying Mr. Obama’s themes with less subtlety, amid a collective aneurysm in Washington and New York. Yet this combination of animus and overreach explains why the post-Newtown gun debate has been such a lost opportunity.

Planting the Seed of Propaganda: Media Repeatedly Suggests Patriots are Responsible for Boston Marathon Bombing | Activist Post

Not unlike the horrible shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the Boston Marathon bombing has become a ”blame-it-on-patriots” media event. Without any proof whatsoever, speculation in the mainstream media is pointing the finger directly at people who believe in independence and freedom from tyranny…. via Activist Post

NYT: Police Surveillance May Earn Money for City | Stop Making Sense

A unique public-private partnership that joined gut-level police acumen with advanced computer algorithms is proceeding toward two goals that rarely coincide: The policing system is making New York safer and it will also make money for the city, which is marketing it to other jurisdictions.

In the six months since the Domain Awareness System was unveiled, officials of Microsoft, which designed the system with the New York Police Department, said they have been surprised by the response and are actively negotiating with a number of prospective buyers, whom Microsoft declined to identify… Buyers would pay to access the software (at least several million dollars and more depending on the size of the jurisdiction and whether specifications have to be customized). New York City will receive 30 percent of the gross revenues from the sale of the system and access to any innovations developed for new customers. The revenue will be directed to counterterrorism and crime prevention programs.

The new system incorporates more than 3,500 cameras in public places, license-plate readers at every major Manhattan entry point, fixed and portable radiation detectors, real-time alerts transmitted from the 911 emergency system and a trove of Police Department data, including arrests and parking summonses.

via Police Surveillance May Earn Money for City ~ NY Times | Stop Making Sense.

NY Lawmaker to investigate mental-health based gun seizure under NY SAFE Act – updated 4/13/13 – 9AM

UPDATED 9AM, 4/13/13

State Assemblyman Ray Walter says when he saw the news coverage of David Lewis’ case, he knew immediately something was “seriously wrong.” Walter wants some answers, when he meets face-to-face with the State Police Superintendent in Albany next Tuesday.

…Lewis was forced to turn in his seven handguns and stripped of his pistol permit.  After State Police in Albany identified him – instead of a different David Lewis in another county – as being too mentally ill to own them…

“What’s supposed to happen, according to the NY SAFE Act, is this: When a mental health professional deems someone a threat to himself or others, she reports that to her supervisor.

Definition of ‘mental health professional’ ?

Definition of ‘threat’ ?

The supervisor notifies the county health commissioner, who sends only non-clinical information – such as the person’s name, date of birth, and Social Security number – to State Police and the Division of Criminal Justice Services.

They are supposed to check that information against their records. If the person has a gun permit, police get back in touch with the county.

Walter said, “The County Clerk then has no discretion, and must either revoke or suspend the pistol permit for the individual that been notified of. There’s no gray area... via Lawmaker to investigate gun seizure | WIVB.com.

Continuing on this disturbing story, this was posted at Pakalert Press (click here for full post there)

Notes on the Connecticut gun grab via Ol’ Remus & the Woodpile Report

Legislators in Connecticut voted for a ban so-called “assault” weapons, a ban on private party sales of used guns, creates a new “ammunition eligibility certificate,” and mandates a ban on the manufacture or sale and a registry for high capacity magazines. Do these buffoons have any concept of how many millions of magazines larger that 10 round capacity exist, or that virtually none of them carry a serial number?, says James Rawles in this article, Connecticut Gun Owners Betrayed by Their State Legislature, at Survival Blog.

I hope that Connecticut gun owners as well as gun, ammo and magazine makers vote with their feet. There are a lot of gun-related companies there: Colt, Winchester, Marlin (which recently shut down after 141 years of operation in Connecticut), Mossberg, Sturm-Ruger, H&R, Stag Arms, A.H. Fox, US Fire Arms, Wildey, Shelton Ammunition, Okay Industries, Ronan/NHMTG, C-Products, Mec-Gar, G.T.B., and many more. James Rawles at survivalblog.com

Emily Miller at the Washington Times summarizes the incredible details of Connecticut’s new gun law. Warning – it’s extreme, bordering on insanity from the insanity side of the border.

Remus says - An AP article tells us “House Minority Leader Lawrence Cafero Jr., R-Norwalk, who helped craft the bill, said he realizes the gun owners are unhappy with the bill, but he stressed that no one will lose their legally owned guns or magazines under the legislation.” Note two things. First, we truly have a two party one-party system. Republicans revealed their craven ways again, they were fully on board with this. When the vote was taken, gun owners had no representation, the collectivists knew this, consequently there were no concessions, not even to reality.

In Connecticut, we’ve broken the mold. Democrats and Republicans were able to come to an agreement on a strong, comprehensive bill. That is a message that should resound in 49 other states and in Washington, D.C.
Senate President Williams Jr., via Susan Haigh, AP at news.yahoo.com

Second, note the legaleese “no one will lose their legally owned guns or magazines.” The banning of this or that is not the point. Laws create criminals where none were before, that is the intent of law. Connecticut now has a whole new criminal class: gun owners. Background checks? How long before even wanting a gun is evidence of dangerous mental instability?

It takes a twisted sense of humor for Connecticut to call itself the Constitution State. Somewhere, Nathan Hale is puking.

I am so satisfied with the cause in which I have engaged, that my only regret is, that I have not more lives than one to offer in its service.  Nathan Hale, via Independent Chronicle and the Universal Advertiser, May 17, 1781

Top 20 Airports for TSA Theft | TSA Watch

…Top 20 U.S. Airports for TSA Agent Firings for Theft

1. Miami International Airport (29 TSA agents fired)
2. JFK International Airport (27 TSA agents fired)
3. Los Angeles International Airport (24 TSA agents fired)
4. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (17 TSA agents fired)
5. Las Vegas-McCarren International Airport (15 TSA agents fired)
6. Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (14 TSA agents fired)
7. New York-Laguardia Airport (14 TSA agents fired)
8. Newark Liberty (12 TSA agents fired)
9. Philadelphia International (12 TSA agents fired)
10. Seattle-Tacoma International (12 TSA agents fired)

Feds Identify 300,000 Americans as Terrorists | Activist Post

Do you hate paying taxes? Are you fighting foreclosure? Do you feel like no one should be allowed to commit violence against you and don’t always blindly follow the commands of the authorities? Do you film encounters with police or believe gold makes better currency than Federal Reserve Notes? Well you might be part of a domestic terrorism movement and not even know it.

On Friday, the Los Angeles Times posted an article attempting to define a domestic terrorist movement consisting of as many as 300,000 Americans. Some are even labeled as non-violent “paper terrorists”.

Is there a more Orwellian term than “non-violent terrorist”?  If you can think of one please share it in the comments below.  They refer to this so-called terror group as “sovereigns, zealots who refuse to recognize government authority in virtually any form.”

When attempting to further define and identify individuals in this movement, some very broad and dangerous stereotypes appear.  “Sovereigns believe U.S. currency has no value but recognize precious metals as valid currency,” wrote the LA Times, much like the US Constitution does.

“A central tenet of the sovereigns movement is that its adherents believe they owe no income taxes,” also much like the Constitution forbids.  What’s more, federal and state law enforcement are being trained that anyone who disobeys their commands falls into this terrorist movement and may pose a violent threat to them.

“Sovereign citizens are more likely not to obey their commands and more likely to commit violence during a traffic stop,” said Detective Rob Finch who’s made a cottage industry of anti-sovereigns police training.  “They refuse to recognize your authority, and that creates a dangerous situation,” Finch emphasized.

The LA Times piece points to a handful of colorful examples of people who defended themselves against police aggression, or who were plain crazy, as to why the movement should be considered violent. But they don’t stop there.  The FBI has even invented a new form of terrorism committed by nonviolent sovereigns called “paper terrorism“.

Even nonviolent sovereigns can cause headaches through what Finch calls “paper terrorism.” Some squat in foreclosed homes and file phony deeds claiming ownership, “paying” with photos of silver dollars.

Who knew fighting foreclosure was a form of terrorism? Paying taxes and mortgages with hand-written notes and photos is just funny, not really a threat to anyone.

However, self-described “sovereign citizen” James Turner faces ”a potential maximum prison term of 164 years, a maximum potential fine of $2,350,000, and mandatory restitution” to the state for the nonviolent act of paper terrorism.

A blog for law officers, PoliceOne.com, also tries to help cops identify sovereign citizens, saying they’ll “...likely to be argumentative with police authorities…may attempt to videotape your encounter…may refuse to give you their name or documents…”

To his credit, the article’s author states that the “…Sovereign Citizen movement is not an organized civil or criminal enterprise. It’s a fractured series of loosely affiliated individuals who adhere to anti-government ideologies.”

It should be noted that the Feds and local law enforcement all received these characteristics and tactics from one original source: The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). The SPLC has been on a publicly-funded partisan crusade to demonize so-called right-wing or patriotic extremists.

In 2010, SPLC put together a short documentary about “sovereign citizens” and the threat they supposedly pose. To help identify potential sovereigns, they warn about certain bumper stickers and challenges to authority in a professionally produced propaganda video.  Significantly, the video below has three times as many down-votes on YouTube as up-votes.  Watch it below:

Fusion center director: We don’t spy on Americans, just anti-government Americans | RT

…In trying to clear up the ‘misconceptions’ about the conduct of fusion centers, Arkansas State Fusion Center Director Richard Davis simply confirmed Americans’ fears: the center does in fact spy on Americans – but only on those who are suspected to be ‘anti-government’…”  via RT USA…

When Proactive Policing Becomes Harassment | Reason.com

Why the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk program is unconstitutional

The first time David Floyd was stopped and frisked, on a Friday afternoon in April 2007, he was walking down Beach Avenue a few doors from his house in the Bronx when two police officers confronted him, demanding to know who he was, where he was going, what he was doing, and whether he was carrying any weapons. Floyd, at the time a freelance film editor and now a medical student, presented his driver’s license and explained that he was walking home.

Unsatisfied, one of the officers searched Floyd, feeling under his shirt and inside his pants pockets. He found nothing illegal. Testifying last week in federal court, Floyd said the incident left him feeling “frustrated [and] humiliated, because it was on my block where I live, and I wasn’t doing anything.”

Floyd’s experience seems to be typical of the 5 million or so street stops recorded by the New York Police Department in the last decade. Police almost never discover guns, and nearly nine times out of 10 they do not make an arrest or even issue a summons. The class action lawsuit that bears Floyd’s name persuasively argues that such unjustified harassment of innocent people violates the Fourth Amendment’s ban on unreasonable searches and seizures.

Son, Will You Fire On American Citizens? | The Captain’s Journal

Interesting read.

Please click the link for an update on the Maryland gun restriction vs. veterans vs. business vs. hypocrite scum politician situation.

(By the way, LWRC makes one HELL of a piston-driven AR.  I have a couple, somewhere, if i recall. Just saying.  GE. )

David Codrea passes along a statement from LWRC International where they have told us that they will move their company out of Maryland if the proposed unconstitutional gun ban passes. I appreciate their patriotism, and I have already weighed in informing Beretta that they must move as well if they wish to survive as a company.

But there’s some fascinating movement in the proposed weapons ban in Maryland. I must quote at length.

“When hunters argued that Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley’s proposed assault-weapons ban would ruin their sport, state lawmakers were not moved. When devotees of the National Rifle Association cried that it would trample on their constitutional rights, lawmakers did not blink....  via The Captain’s Journal.

“Ominous Threats” and Murderous Zeal | Pro Libertate

click the jack-booted thugs to go original post

“There are, in increasingly frightening numbers, cells of angry men in the United States preparing for combat,” warns an unusually strident house editorial by the Los Angeles Times. “They are usually heavily armed, blinded by an intractable hatred, often motivated by religious zeal…”

via Pro Libertate: “Ominous Threats” and Murderous Zeal.

Unbanking vs. Underbanking: How to Break Up with the Financial System | The Organic Prepper

Breaking up is hard to do, especially when it is with a tracking service like a financial institution.  Sometimes you can make a clean break and other times you have to remain “just friends”.

The US government actually has a name for people who have no bank accounts – they call these folks “the unbanked”.  The FDIC defines the unbanked as “those without an account at a bank or other financial institution and are considered to be outside the mainstream for one reason or another.”  Another term is “the underbanked” – “people or businesses that have poor access to mainstream financial services normally offered by retail banks. The underbanked can be characterized by a strong reliance on non-traditional forms of finance and micro-finance often associated with disadvantaged and the poor, such as check cashers, loan sharks and pawnbrokers.”

Time To Plan For The Worst Rather Than Hope For The Best | Alt-Market

Preparation for disaster, whether natural or man-made, should be as vital as any ideal found in the various practices of religion and spiritualism. Preparedness should be treated with reverence, discipline and duty. The drive for preparation should be seated in the very heart of humanity. As individuals and as a society, we should hold preparedness dear, for it is an expression of the desire for survival and the key to maintaining our inherent freedoms. Without self-sufficiency, we set ourselves up for endless failure and enslavement.

Retired Police Captain Peter Christ demolishes the War on Drugs

Published on Oct 25, 2012.  LEAP co-founder, Peter Christ, appears on WGRZ-TV in Buffalo, NY and takes on all aspects of our disastrous War on Drugs. Captain Christ is vice-chair of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition-

Wikileaks Was Just a Preview: We’re Headed for an Even Bigger Showdown Over Secrets | Matt Taibbi

…Still, it seems like an insane amount of pressure to apply, given the other types of crimes (of, say, the HSBC variety) where stiff sentences haven’t even been threatened, much less imposed…..

But in all of these cases, the government pursued maximum punishments and generally took zero-tolerance approaches to plea negotiations. These prosecutions reflected an obvious institutional terror of letting the public see the sausage-factory locked behind the closed doors not only of the state, but of banks and universities and other such institutional pillars of society. As Gibney pointed out in his movie, this is a Wizard of Oz moment, where we are being warned not to look behind the curtain….

via Matt Taibbi | Rolling Stone.

DHS Ammo Investigation | Brittius.com

DHS Ammo Investigation | Brittius.com
click that pic …

Reportedly, there is being a request by a few members of Congress to look into alleged ammunition purchases by the Department of Homeland Security. Numbers are now alleged at two billion rounds of ammunition which is at this time, completely unsubstantiated, but people keep jacking up the numbers. This alone merits being looked into because the fear and panic it is creating has to either be proven or laid to rest as fear mongering, which is very dangerous to the peace of America. Why would people want to start a war in America? Some have demonstrated long ago that they qualify for a straight jacket and to be locked away in a rubber room. On the flip side of the coin, if it is merely an emotional plea to get people’s attention to make them aware of a dangerous situation, Congress needs to go the extra mile for once, and the Congressional underachieving slackers have to stop stuffing money into their pockets and have the DHS ammunition issue, investigated.

NRA joins lawsuit challenging New York’s gun control law | Fox

The National Rifle Association on Thursday joined the the New York State Rifle and Pistol Association, other sportsmen’s groups, firearms businesses and individual gun owners in a lawsuit challenging the state’s strict new gun control law.

The federal suit, filed in Buffalo, said the law violates the constitutional rights of “law-abiding citizens to keep commonly possessed firearms in the home for defense of self and family and for other lawful purposes….”  via Fox News

Nova | Ol’ Remus & The Woodpile Report

When you step back and look at the big picture, it really makes one wonder—how big of a piano needs to be dropped on people’s heads before they notice what’s happening?   Simon Black at sovereignman.com

Stars shine for billions of years, fusing one element into another, hydrogen into helium, carbon, neon, oxygen, silicon, until one day fusion into iron begins. There, quietly, at the heart of the star, it’s doom is sealed. Fusion into iron generates no net heat, in fact, it’s a heat sink. There comes those last few seconds when equilibrium is lost, the star can’t support its own weight, the outer shells collapse inward at nearly the speed of light and the star is torn apart in a spectacular cataclysm. When gravity wins, it wins all at once. So it shall be with us.

There are those among us who want what they don’t need and need what they don’t want. Tolerance for this has metamorphosized into entitlement, which for the beneficiary mimics success, and so the core of career consumers has grown large enough to make its own weather and exert its own gravity. Debt on this scale would eventually overwhelm any economy, no matter how robust. Enough is never enough, even if it were a wide-open spigot plumbed to any conceivable source of supply. Fantasies about debt can keep it going for a while, but in the real world no debt has ever gone unpaid, if not by the borrower then by the lender. In the end, historic debt has historic consequences.

The hard road ahead will likely be comparable in its scope and impacts to the harrowing times brought by America’s first three rounds of anacyclosis. To live through the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, or the Great Depression was not an easy thing; those of my readers who are curious about what might be ahead could probably do worse than to read a good history of one or more of those.   John Greer at resilience.org

Gun Confiscation Is Not About Guns | Freedom Outpost

Copyright Getty Images

Obama and the democrats want to confiscate guns not because they care about them, but because guns are a footnote in their plan of Complete Political Control.

The plan goes like this. Since absolute control can be achieved only through military insurrection or the political process, i.e., votes, and since there are enough patriots left in the military to forestall a military takeover, the only possibility for usurping control is through some form of vote fraud.

The country is evenly split between socialists and non-socialists, and all that is required to gain complete control is a few more socialist voters. How about twenty million illegals who are grateful to be let into the country and ultimately made citizens?

1. FIRST STEP. Open the borders and bring the wrath of the federal government against any group or state (Arizona) who seeks to limit the influx of illegal aliens.

[Obama-appointee] Judge Audrey Fleissig overturns Mo. law on birth control coverage | AP

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A federal judge has struck down a Missouri law exempting moral objectors from mandatory birth control coverage because it conflicts with an insurance requirement under President Barrack Obama’s health care law.

click for bio

The ruling by U.S. District Judge Audrey Fleissig cites a provision in the U.S. Constitution declaring that federal laws take precedence over contradictory state laws. But Fleissig emphasized that she was taking no position on the merits of the Obama administration policy, which requires insurers to cover contraception at no additional cost to women.

Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster did not say on Monday whether he would appeal the ruling, which was dated Thursday but not publicized.

The anti-abortion group Campaign Life Missouri distributed an email Monday denouncing the ruling as “a radical departure from America’s tradition of religious freedom” and imploring people to contact Koster’s office in support of an appeal. Some backers of Missouri’s law said the court ruling could result in churches and other religious organizations having to accept insurance policies that include contraception coverage.

Right-wing extremist groups on the extreme rise | MSNBC / Hardball / Matthews / Schultz

Updated march 17, 2013 @ 7PM EST.

Dear Southern Poverty Law Center:

Please add me and this blog to your list of terrorists.  Up yours you fucktard idiots.  GE

…and now from this libtard air-headed echo chamber…

NY SAFE Act Nabs its First Gun Owner: An Iraq War vet | Guns.com

A Western New York man now faces seven years in prison for violating Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s new gun control-law, the NY Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act (or SAFE Act).

Benjamin M. Wassell.
Credit: Buffalo News

Benjamin M. Wassell, an Iraq War veteran, was charged with twice selling newly banned military-style ‘assault’ weapons and standard-capacity magazines to an undercover police officer as part of a sting operation conducted by State Police and the New York Attorney General’s Office, the Buffalo News reported.

Altogether, the 32-year-old Silver Creek resident was slapped with three felony charges and one misdemeanor, which as noted could end up putting Wassell, who has no prior convictions, behind bars for as many as seven years.

“By selling these illegal firearms, Mr. Wassell’s actions had potentially dangerous consequences for New Yorkers,” said state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. “We have seen far too much gun violence in our state in recent months, and the sale of illegal semiautomatic weapons will not go unpunished.”

On Jan. 24 Wassell sold a Del-Ton AR-15 to an undercover agent along with six standard-capacity magazines and 299 rounds of ammunition for $1,900.

Due do the fact that the rifle has one or more military cosmetic characteristics, i.e. a detachable magazine, a pistol grip and a telescoping stock, it is considered an ‘assault’ weapon under the NY SAFE Act and cannot be sold to anyone but a licensed dealer or an out-of-state citizen.

The first sale Wassell made to the undercover officer was made nine days after the Governor rammed through the law in the dead of night after waving the mandatory three-day legislative review period.  Instead of arresting Wassell after his first offense, the investigators held out and remained undercover to see if he would sell another banned firearm. Unfortunately, he did…

Thoughts and analysis. This is only beginning.

Gun owners in the Empire State should be on high-alert moving forward.  Both Cuomo and NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg will continue to appropriate state and city resources to conducting sting operations that attempt to entrap law-abiding gun owners.

NY SAFE Act: Question on ‘Assault’ Weapons Registration

The way it looks, lawmakers want to ensure that this law is taken seriously.  Previously legal firearms are now banned.  And if you fail to register them in the coming weeks, you’re now a criminal in the eyes of the state.

Also, please note that these laws do not only apply to firearms, but magazines as well.  The NY SAFE Act put a retroactive ban on magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.  If you’re caught with a 10-plus round magazine, you’re a criminal.  If you load more than seven rounds in your ten round magazine, you’re in violation of the law.

via NY SAFE Act Nabs its First Gun Owner: An Iraq War vet (VIDEO) – Guns.com.

Fast, Furious, and Disappointing | Brittius

U.S. Border Patrolman Brian Terry He Kept His Oath – Avenge Him

The carnival with the Justice Department and House Congressional committee continue to disagree, in settling a lawsuit over congressional efforts to obtain records related to Operation Fast and Furious, a gun trafficking operation that was the brainstorm of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, under the direction of the U.S. Justice Department and the U.S. Attorney General, William Holder. The Justice Department, put it to the House Committee, that the settlement, will not be coming, period, case closed, and they don’t give a damn. The attorney general is not serious about settlement.

President Barack Obama has invoked Executive Privilege, and Attorney General Eric Holder, has been found in Contempt of Congress, for refusing to turn over records, after initially denying to Congress, that federal agents had used a very controversial tactic called “Gun Walking”, in the failed law enforcement operation that lead to the killing of a United States Border Patrolman, that was gunned down by a weapon deliberately placed into criminal hands with the consent of the U.S. Justice Department. Me, or you, and they would have locked us up and thrown away the key, long ago.

25 Things That the SHTF Doesn’t Care About | Organic Prepper

SHTF doesn’t generally drop by at the best of times. In fact, SHTF thrives and grows exponentially under more adverse circumstances.  So, suck it up, put on your boots, and power through it – SHTF doesn’t care and neither can you!

1. SHTF doesn’t care about inclement weather – snow, hail, tornadoes and hurricanes all just add to the party atmosphere for SHTF.
2. SHTF doesn’t care that you sprained your ankle, broke your leg or are otherwise less than ambulatory. If you have to bug out without a vehicle, you have to bug out, regardless of your injury status.
3. SHTF doesn’t care that you decided to start prepping after the trip to Disneyworld (because that trip is expensive)

An Orwellian America | Zero Hedge

….ORWELL’S 1984 IS HAPPENING.  We are one crisis away from a police state. All the powers are in place. Someone will flip the switch. Whether a Cyber Attack, escalating Currency War tensions or a ‘terrorist’ attack by indebted college youth, it is only a matter of time and circumstance.

click the pic to read the entire dsytopic tonic on this topic at ZeroHedge

via An Orwellian America | Zero Hedge.

Bitcoin and Kim Dotcom: Why it’s Time to “Encrypt Everything” | libertyblitzkrieg.com

Encryption may end up being the biggest trend in 2013, as the concept, usage and term itself move from the realm of computer geeks and hackers into mainstream consciousness. The reason why such a moment must occur relates to the fact that governments and intelligence agencies the world over are rapidly moving in the direction of spying on their citizenry twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. Those of us that don’t like this privacy invasion will have to move toward encrypting as much of our daily lives as possible.

TSA screeners miss bomb at Newark Int’l Airport. Fondling of children and old ladies continues apace.

Mandatory Reading for 3/5/13 – The Woodpile Report

Go here, right now, and read it all. That’s an order.

***possible bs alert***Obama DHS Purchases 2,700 Light-Armored Tanks to Go With Their 1.6 Billion Bullet Stockpile | The Gateway Pundit

This is getting a little creepy.  According to one estimate, since last year the Department of Homeland Security has stockpiled more than 1.6 billion bullets, mainly .40 caliber and 9mm.  DHS also purchased 2,700 Mine Resistant Armor Protected Vehicles (MRAP)…   via The Gateway Pundit.

The Road to Oligarchy | Sultan Knish

Regardless of how many wars on poverty are declared and how often calls are issued to make the rich pay their fair share, neither the rich nor the poor will be going anywhere anytime soon. The question is what forces will keep the poor impoverished and where the rich will derive their wealth from.

The founder of Subway recently said that he could not have started up his company today. Similar messages have come from the founders and heads of other major companies. That isn’t to say that companies will cease to exist. What we think of as business has been changing for some time.
In most countries, starting a business does not begin with a great idea. It begins with connections. Knowing the right people is still important, but in most places it’s the most important thing.

Court to consider whether speedy approval of NY gun controls violated constitution | Fox

ALBANY, N.Y. – A New York state judge agreed Friday to consider whether the state’s tough new gun restrictions were rushed into law in violation of the state constitution. State Supreme Court Justice Gerald Connolly signed an order granting the request for a hearing by plaintiffs who are challenging Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s decision to waive the three-day review usually required before votes on bills, according to LoHud.com.

The plaintiffs argue the law violates the guarantees of free speech, property ownership and the right to petition the government guaranteed under the state and federal constitutions.

Plaintiff Robert Schulz called Cuomo a “king” for pushing through the nation’s toughest gun law by suspending the three-day vetting period by submitting a “message of necessity” on the law, which allows the constitutional waiting period to be suspended.

via Court to consider whether speedy approval of NY gun controls violated constitution | Fox News.

Separation | Ol’ Remus & The Woodpile Report for 2/26/13

DC has always been distant from the people. Apart from the IRS and the draft, they were “the other” we read about in the papers, running gangsters and spies to ground, getting the interstate built, fighting wars and generally looking out for the Little Guy. We believed they were the Big Picture People doing things on the largest scale on behalf of all who worked hard, lived responsibly and stayed right with the law. DC was the captain and crew of our mighty ship, alert and sure, cutting cleanly through heavy seas and turgid morass alike, while their grateful passengers shuddered at the hardship and horrors beyond the delights of the endless buffet on the promenade deck.

They Want To Tag Us Before They Bag Us | Dave Hodges

If President Obama, John McCain (R., AZ),  Lindsey Graham (R., SC), Marco Rubio (R., FL), Lindsey Graham (R., SC.), Charles Schumer (D., NY.), Jeff Flake (R., AZ.), Michael Bennet (D., CO.), and implicated child molester Robert Menendez (D., N.J.), get their way, it will soon be law that if you want to board an airplane, to vote, to purchase a firearm, hold a job and basically buy and sell anything, then you will be required to submit to a National ID Card which will soon become part of a global ID system.

In effect, the proposed national and soon-to-be global ID card will serve as a permission slip to do all of the ordinary things that you presently have the right to do as an ordinary American citizen. Of course, if you are the president, or one of these senatorial traitors and your intention is to eliminate U.S. sovereignty by requiring American citizens to become a part of a global identification system, then this is a requisite step in this treasonous give away of our country. Of course, the good senators are not calling this a national ID because that has been tried, opposed and rejected back in 2008. These senators are cloaking their treason under the guise that the implementation of this universal ID system is an immigration issue.

The Immigration Trojan Horse.  The National ID and soon to be Global ID system is being sold to the rank and file of Congress as a means to control terrorism and to further prevent illegal immigration. Showing ID’s to board a plane on 9/11 did not prevent the destruction of the Twin Towers now did it? And we have drones and satellites which can read the inscription on a dime from the upper reaches of the atmosphere and we can’t identify and stop foreign nationals from crossing our borders? Our government does want to stop illegal immigration. And now we are being asked to swallow the myth that only an ID can prevent illegal immigration. Only a member of Congress who is more focused on becoming enriched at their insider-trading potential would be distracted enough to fall for this ridiculous excuse. And when one considers that a bi-partisan group of congressman are trying to simultaneously create a path to citizenship for all illegal alien residents, this justification of requiring a national ID to solve the immigration issues of this country is based wholly on deception.

The Right Way to Combat Gun Violence | Reason.com

The Right Way to Combat Gun Violence:  Most gun control ideas are irrelevant or impossible.  Steve Chapman | February 25, 2013

Public policy is a lot like math: No matter what the problem, the wrong answers are far more numerous than the right ones. This is particularly true on the subject of mass shootings and other firearms violence, which have stimulated a new fervor for barking up the wrong tree.

Many liberals think the answer to mass shootings and street crime lies in stricter gun regulation: banning “assault weapons,” limiting the capacity of magazines or, in their unrestrained moments, adopting ultra-stringent laws like those in Britain or Australia.

But most of these ideas are irrelevant or impossible. Even if the Second Amendment didn’t prevent it, Americans would never stand for a near-total ban on ownership of semiautomatic weapons, a la Australia, or of handguns, as in Britain. You might as well expect Nebraska to build 300 miles of oceanfront beaches.

Should You Go to Jail for Unlocking Your Phone? | Reason

Derek Khanna on copyright, the DMCA, and the terrible law against freeing your cellphone

Supreme Court Maintains Spotty Civil-Liberties Record | Reason.com

click to go to Reason.com

The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decisions regarding police powers were mixed, thus offering a reminder to civil libertarians that they cannot depend upon the high court to protect the public from unwarranted government intrusions.

“The U.S. Supreme Court handed police one victory and one loss on Tuesday,” reported National Public Radio. “In one decision, the justices limited the power of police to detain people who are away from their homes when police conduct a search. And in a second case, the justices ruled that drug-sniffing dogs don’t have to get every sniff right in order for a search to be valid.”

Mom takes on smart meters over privacy, health concerns | McClatchy

Of course they  have to paint these brave folks as tofu-brained, big brother deluded wackos:

Non-compliance will be punished comrades… Heil Das Amerika.

Seriously though, think about this:  You are coerced into a monopolistic, sole-sourced relationship with your electricity provider.  You have no real recourse regarding the physical plant that serves your buildings (although you do have a shell-game of selections of primary electricity sources in some areas).  Thus, should not the state extend additional protections from ALL predatory / dictatorial actions by these state mandated sole source suppliers that you are tied to?

These brave women carrying the ball forward for you and I:

A mother of three who buys organic food and worries about the dangers of “dirty electricity” has become the face of resistance in Naperville, Ill.

Led away in handcuffs after trying to prevent the installation of a “smart meter” on her home, Jennifer Stahl vows to continue the protest movement that has made this suburban community ground zero in a battle over privacy rights versus modern technology.

“This is unreasonable search and seizure,” said Stahl, 40, who believes the devices designed to monitor power usage are intrusive and pose a health risk. “It definitely is not OK for my utility … to know when I’m home and not home.”

New Jersey Girl on Fire about the 2nd amendment, Feb 13, 2013, before NJ Assmbly Publc Safety Committe

This young lady read the 2nd amendment to the Committee and explained what it means in no uncertain terms. This occurred at the February 13, 2013 NJ Assembly Gun Control Hearing.

County Sheriffs and measures target NY State’s new gun-control law | The Leader Herald

See my earlier post re the NY SAFE Act / Cuomo Fatwa here.

…”I personally am totally opposed to the New York SAFE Act, and I’m opposed to all the people who voted for it,” said Board of Supervisors Chairman William Waldon of Johnstown, who said his colleagues were united in their hopes to fight the law.

The 1,500-word position statement was drafted and unanimously approved last month by 52 members of the New York State Sheriff’s Association, including Fulton County Sheriff Thomas Lorey, Montgomery County Sheriff Michael Amato and Hamilton County Sheriff Karl Abrams.

The sheriffs said parts of the state’s new SAFE Act, which will track more purchases of firearms and ammunition and make some existing guns, magazines and clips illegal, are too broad, while other parts limit rights of legal gun owners. The entire law, which local lawmakers said was rushed through the state Senate and Assembly, is difficult for gun owners, businesses and even police officials to understand, the position says.

Two business days after the sheriffs approved the language, Lorey presented it to the Board of Supervisors’ Public Safety Committee, which unanimously approved it, setting up Monday’s vote by the full board. The Public Safety Committee in Montgomery County also passed a similar measure, and a resolution is under way in Hamilton County.

“I’m sure the other counties are going to step on board,” said board Vice Chairman Linda Kemper of Northampton, who chairs the county Public Safety Committee. “It might be a matter of what position they take or what parts of the sheriff’s association position they endorse, but [we] endorsed all their findings.”

Kemper said there was no debate among supervisors Monday – only widespread disgust for the law and the way it was passed.

“There was a lot of discussion, and a lot of it was about the process – that it was shoved through in the middle of the night behind closed doors,” she said, adding that even the most religious supervisors and the ones who don’t own guns were passionate about fighting the law.

“The big picture is big brother is taking over your personal rights, gaining everything you have a right to,” she said.

[Fulton County Sheriff] Lorey did not return a phone message seeking comment Wednesday and could not be reached this morning, but he said Monday at the Fulton County Republican Club’s Lincoln Day dinner that this is a big issue that won’t go away. He followed that up Tuesday with a short speech at a gun rally in Albany.

“I’ve got a simple message: I’m not coming to take your guns. Not today. Not ever,” he shouted through a megaphone, adding, “Fulton County is a come-and-take-it county, not a bend-over county.”…

Gotta love a law-abiding Sheriff!!  GE>

via The Leader Herald.

Big Brother to monitor ‘sovereign citizens’ | WND

Orwell hit this one on the head…

So if you had any doubt that NDAA, CISPA, DHS, drones, warrant-less searches, TSA, the Newtown-circus and citizen disarmament etc. were a prelude to your preemptive criminalization, consider yourself disabused of that comforting notion.

Make no mistake about it you tinfoil hat wearing, gun toting, Bible clinging, knuckle dragging anachronisms:  YOU ARE the the threat. YOU are the enemy. YOU must be handled, managed, silenced, marginalized and entrapped.

The state fears nothing so much as an awakened, empowered and angry citizenry and so you sheep are not allowed off the farm. Punishment will be severe.

So, what are you going to do?  I think that the time for calls and letters to Congressmen, candlelight vigils, writing op-eds and cordial, thought provoking discourse to the uninformed has long been over:  That stuff is pointless.  The time is here to get ready for the long pull, the dark struggle, the end game.

I say it is time to disappear, opt out and go Galt.  I say the ‘laws’ and Government are now so illegal, so immoral that the only ethical course of action is to withdraw from that context.  In other words, I quit.  I am forming and fostering a new society of the like minded.   If that makes me a “sovereign man” to you Mr. FBI person, so be it. And fuck you.  I’ll be out here working for the good, and working against you if needed.

Good luck on getting me back in the corral.

G.E.

With almost no media coverage, the White House last week announced its new Interagency Working Group to Counter Online Radicalization to Violence that will target not only Islamic terrorists but so-called violent “sovereign citizens.”