Police State

Trump supports renewal of invasive spy law without modification.

We can only hope for an exodus of talent from the NSA. I'm skeptical.

NSA and GCHQ have intercepted in-flight mobile communications for years.

History of CIA incompetence.

Street lamps to be wired with cameras and microphones in San Diego. I won't visit there.

Spies have so much data on everybody they can selectively reveal whatever they want to benefit or destroy whomever they want. That's why I say NSA is the ultimate power in the country.

UK passes most invasive spy law in western world.

Hacked NSA tools for sale on market.

Prosecutors subpoena Alexa records in criminal case. Amazon claims Alexa is protected by the first amendment. That's a crazy argument. Regardless, Alexa and all other voice command assistants are spying all the time. The government gets that info whether it has a warrant or subpoena or not.

Amazon refuses to turn over Echo recording to Arkansas police.

Microsoft can call for a digital Geneva Convention, but all governments will break it. They always spy to the limits of technology. They limit themselves to legal spying.

Government allows Microsoft to sue it over email surveillance.

Twitter blocks government from accessing user data.

US-born NASA scientist detained at border and coerced into unlocking his phone.

State-sponsored hackers hack journalists.

DHS considers forcing US visitors to surrender social media passwords.

Man arrested for arson based on pacemaker data. Even medical devices are spying on you.

FBI reverts to using fax machines and snail mail to slow down responding to FOIA requests.

Secret rules make it easy for FBI to spy on journalists.

FBI hacked 8,000 computers in 120 countries based on one warrant. FBI uses malware like a grenade.

Fusion centers are a billion dollar boondoggle to promote paranoia.

Groupthink in the 17 member intelligence community which is focused on only expansion.

Obama signed new law against whistleblowers in December.

Why we need whistleblowers.

DHS and FEMA expose 10,000 trainees to ricin.

Anti-surveillance clothing hides people from surveillance cameras.

Local police building their own DNA databases.

Environment

Mann's latest paper debunked in a day.

FEMA blackmails governors into promoting global warming fraud.

Tax and Spend

FEMA demands some New York residents to repay aid received after Sandy.

"The demand letters are part of a broader FEMA effort to recover millions of dollars in aid payments that went to ineligible households, either because of errors, a misunderstanding of the rules or outright fraud.
The Associated Press reported in September that FEMA was scrutinizing 4,500 households it suspected had received improper payments. At that time, 850 had been asked to return a collective $5.8 million. The other cases were still under review."

Double the disaster.

Global Warming and Energy

FEMA coerces states into including global warming threat plans by threatening to cut off funding.

UK power grid unprepared for cold winter.

NOAA frauds claim 2014 could break hottest record despite super-cold winter and mild summer. This is a joke.

"If 2014 breaks the record for hottest year, that also should sound familiar: 1995, 1997, 1998, 2005 and 2010 all broke NOAA records for the hottest years since records started being kept in 1880."

This isn't true. 1998 is still the hottest recent year on record and 1933 is the hottest year ever on record. The only way they can make these claims is by manipulating the raw data after the fact to advance their political agendas. September supposedly hottest on record.

Tax and Spend

Lois Lerner warned IRS employees not to put stuff in email that might end up being subpoenaed by Congress.

Government spending is immoral. Not most of it. All of it.

"James Madison, the acknowledged father of our Constitution, said, “Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government.” In 1794, when Congress appropriated $15,000 to assist some French refugees, Madison stood on the floor of the House of Representatives to object, saying, “I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents.”"

Congress violated the Constitution as soon as it was ratified.

List of FEMA camps.

Police State

List of FEMA camps.

Eleventh Circuit appeals court rules police need a warrant to obtain cell phone location data. The Supreme Court will have to overturn this.

Law blocks victims from suing over water pollution, but since the victims are troops, rulers want to change the law. Serfs must suffer.

Immigration

More than 1,000 unaccompanied, illegal immigrant children enter the US each week, costing taxpayers billions.

Putting FEMA in charge of them insures they'll live worse lives than the ones they left.  Welcome to the FEMA concentration camps.

Global Warming and Energy

Link between electrical activity on the sun and weather and climate on Earth.

"Is it a coincidence that hurricanes Katrina and Rita occurred on either side of the second largest X-flare ever recorded?"

I doubt it.

Now that it's not so cold anymore, people can turn up their thermostats. That's mighty generous of our rulers. We live in upside-world.

Georgia Governor blames weather, timing for disaster in Atlanta, not incompetence. This is more about people being sheep and counting on government instead of thinking for themselves.

Chick-fil-a cooked and gave away all their food to needy people during the storm.

Regarding how normal people help each other during crises while government hinders them...

"It wouldn’t surprise me to see FEMA come rolling into Georgia and start hindering, prohibiting, and criminalizing such private efforts, which is what that agency did in New Orleans."

This crisis won't last long enough for FEMA to figure out where Atlanta is.

The process of adjusting temperatures from surface stations overwhelms the supposed temperature increases from global warming.

"Basically what they are saying here is that the heat sink effect of all the concrete and asphalt surrounding the station swamps the diurnal variation of the station, and when it is moved away, the true diurnal variation returns, and then the homogenization methodology falsely adjusts the signal in a way that increases the trend."

The key word is falsely.

Police State

FEMA takes over disaster management in Colorado and immediately makes things worse by grounding private drones - offered for free - that were being used to map the disaster in real time, replacing them with piloted planes that couldn't get low enough to map as well as the drones.

Another spectacular example of government failure as shooter kills 12 at Navy yard. I bet the victims has been disarmed by government. Government cannot make us safer. It makes us less safe.

Local

This music center in Huber Heights must be getting some resistance based on all the propaganda the DDN is giving it. Now it will improve the quality of life for people, as if stealing their money could ever improve their lives.

Boil government water in Waynesville.

FEMA is training locals to oppress their neighbors.While I'm all for people learning to provide CPR to others, this is creepy.

Tax and Spend

The New York Times prints this headline:

"Obama Will Ask Congress for Budget Cuts to Head Off Automatic Reductions"

But the article is all about avoiding cuts. This is a lie.

How Nordic countries with Sweden in the lead cut government spending and debt to improve their economies. Canada did the same.

New Jersey Governor Christie calls FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program a disgrace. What else would you expect from the most corrupt institution in the world?

"The governor said excessive paperwork, inadequate staffing, cumbersome audits and the threat of financial penalties to carriers and adjusters is interfering with the timely issuance of payments, prolonging the suffering of many New Jersey residents hurt by Sandy."

Yet I guarantee fraud is rampant. What else would you expect from an institution funded by theft and based on violence? 

Study estimates government roads cost Americans billions.

"The nation’s commuters are adapting to increasing traffic congestion by building delays into their schedules, but at a cost of $121 billion in wasted time and fuel, an annual study of national driving patterns released Tuesday said."

What about the accidents? The fatalities? The stress?  I'm sure the total cost is much higher.

Highlights of Kasich's budget plan. 

Tax and Spend

Remember when Chris Christie and Democrats were attacking House Republicans for holding up spending for Sandy victims? That seems like a month ago. The Democrat controlled Senate just got around to passing the same bill. How come we didn't hear attacks on senators the whole time? Chris Christie is a big Democrat in Republican clothes.

Global Warming and Energy

Remember how FEMA trailers sat unused while victims of Hurricane Katrina sat homeless? FEMA's doing the same thing to Sandy victims.

Tax and Spend

FEMA failed during Sandy too.

"But if you think FEMA's inability to provide rapid relief subverts the core reason for its existence, think again. A few days after the Times' valentine, FEMA head W. Craig Fugate told the newspaper that the agency's rapid response role is really a fallacy. "The general public assumes we are part of the response team that will be there the first couple of days," he said. But it is really designed to deal with disasters several days after the fact.How does FEMA do that? By indiscriminately writing checks -- a task at which it evidently excels."

Post-disaster welfare.

Tax and Spend

FEMA to seek bailout of flood insurance fund.

Global Warming and Energy

EU suspends aircraft carbon tax.

In another travesty of the global warming frauds, now atmospheric CO2 is predicted to endanger satellites.

The BBC 28 are identified.

FEMA is testing disaster refuge camps after Sandy.

"But inside the tent city, which has room for thousands but was only sheltering a couple of hundred on Friday, no one had heard anything about a move – or about anything else. “They treat us like we’re prisoners,” says Ashley Sabol, 21, of Seaside Heights, New Jersey. “It’s bad to say, but we honestly feel like we’re in a concentration camp.“"

What else would you expect? The government is imprisoning the most vulnerable people in America.

Global Warming and Energy

A bunch of east coast hurricanes between 1951 and 1960, including several that threatened New York, were much larger than Sandy. Sandy not unprecedented, not even close.

Meteorologists got Sandy right. That's unusual.

It sounds like government is squandering the manpower it has available for search and rescue after Sandy.

"After several days in a holding pattern at Joint Base McGuire-Dix Lakehurst completing training, task force leader Tom Lakamp said it was good to get the members out using their search and rescue skills."
"The task force was not given another mission by the Federal Emergency Management Agency or the local New Jersey authorities as of Saturday. Until members are released by New Jersey authorities as an “asset” for search and rescue missions in that state, they will remain on base, said public information officer Doug Cope."

Why are these people sitting around with no mission? Rhetorical question.

Much of Sandy's "record storm surge" came from it being high tide during a full moon when Sandy hit. The previous record was set at low tide. More on Sandy's storm surge.

Sandy victims face gasoline shortages. Stupid government tries to give away gas for "free" only to immediately run out of supply. In order to avoid shortages, gas suppliers should charge what the market will bear.

Obama's EPA waives gasoline regulations for Sandy victims, tacitly admitting they are obstacles to progress.

Does FEMA really create moral hazard? Does anybody say, it would be too dangerous to live here if not for FEMA?  Government flood insurance creates moral hazard, and people are talking about that, but is that FEMA?

"When coastal states saw that their own resources would be used to repair flood damage, for instance, than political leaders would have stronger incentives to discourage housing development in flood-prone areas and to encourage greater investments in precautions like tree trimming to reduce storm damage."

This is just an argument for trading in one (federal) central planner for another (state).

"But FEMA has another role too: through it, the federal government plays a major role in re-investing in affected areas. Lower Manhattan, for instance, is the home of Wall Street, justifying national intervention through FEMA to get the area back on its feet. But this raises the question of whether it is fair and efficient to take tax dollars collected in one geographic location and redistribute it to a region devastated by disaster. There are surely unintended consequences that come with such implicit insurance. Put bluntly, moral hazard arises as more economic activity is likely to locate in harm's way along the pretty coast. "

This is a much better example, but I think FEMA does even more damage because it hoards resources, making it harder for people to obtain the resources they need before and after a disaster. This guy also buys into the global warming fraud, but at least he's making a couple of good points.

New Jersey Governor Christy attacks people for using prices to match supply to demand. As demand skyrockets during a disaster, prices must follow suit to insure goods are applied to the best purpose. These increased prices also draw goods from all over the country to where they're needed most. Government hinders this process. Lew Rockwell has some more examples.

Here's another way government hinders recovery from a disaster: Christian electricians turned away because they are non-union.

Naturally the lights come back in the plutocrat stronghold of southern Manhattan before any of the boroughs.

"Bloomberg also said that resolving gas shortages could take days."

That's because government is in the way. As Lew said above...

"Of course, if gasoline could be sold at the market price, which is far higher than a week ago, there would be no shortage. Every entrepreneurial guy with a tanker truck, or a fleet of them, would be flooding the area with exactly what the people need."

But no. Instead gas is being held up by government threats of violence.

Bloomberg jumps on the global warming fraud bandwagon.

A science guy who believes in the global warming scam explains that climate models predict a decrease in hurricanes like Sandy, not an increase.

Some frauds are reporting that the Atlantic Ocean has warmed by 5 degrees in the last 50 years. Wrong.

In a naked scam, DP&L asks regulators to allow it to raise prices by $5 per month, supposedly to offset the cost of transitioning to a state market in electricity. But here's the catch:

"The charge is intended to cover the company’s transition period to adjust to a statewide competitive market by 2017 for electric providers, DP&L said. But those customers who remain with the utility as their energy provider should realize enough savings to cancel out the charge, the utility added."

DP&L is admitting that, once it faces competition, five years from now, that prices will fall. It's also admitting it wants to blatantly steal from people in the mean time.

"The company said in filings with the Public Utility Commission of Ohio that the charge would “ensure the company’s financial integrity.” It would generate $600 million over five years, or $120 million annually."

I don't care what they call it. I call it stealing.

"Even with the charge, DP&L said, other parts of the rates would decrease. For example, residential customers using more than a household average would see a decrease, said DP&L spokeswoman Lesley Sprigg. Commercial and industrial customers who remain with DP&L as their electricity supplier should see a decrease of 2 percent to 6 percent, Sprigg said."

Why would rates go down for people who use a lot of electricity. I thought conservation was a good idea.

"A similar request was approved by PUCO in August for AEP that the utility called a “retail stability rider,” but the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel has filed a challenge and the approval could go through another hearing. Duke Energy has also filed for a similar charge."

This is their last few years enjoying their government protected monopolies, so why not shoot for the moon?

IPCC agrees that Mann did not win the Nobel.

Claim that global warming is causing sea levels to rise faster than expected. Really? I remember going to an aquarium about 20 years ago that claimed sea levels would rise by 2 feet by 2020. It's not happening. These guys like to re-write history then claim their predictions were alarmist enough. Of course, even using data biased to incorrectly make it appear sea levels are rising faster than they really are, they're not rising nearly as fast as this guy says.

Global Warming and Energy

Here's nice quote to show just how evil the global warming frauds are:

"But what their role as national leaders demands that they also do is explain that Hurricane Sandy is a true Frankenstorm, a monster created by man tampering with nature with oil, coal, and gas pollution."

In the past, pseudo-scientists have backed up this guy's lies:

"This isn’t the first time he has claimed punishment from on high is retribution for not seeing climate issues his way, readers may recall he blamed conservative states for bringing tornadoes upon themselves by not acting on the climate issues he and his fellow propagandist, Joe Romm were pushing at the time. Three scientists, Kevin Trenberth, Michael Mann, and Gavin Schmidt provided quotes to make that exercise in Tabloid Climatology™  complete."

Here's a quote from another fraud:

"Perhaps this weather scare that may well be much more than just a scare is God’s revenge for the refusal of the U.S. government to take action on the climate crisis."

Anthony Watts responds:

"By extension, Johnson and Glick’s claims are essentially that this Category 1 storm with 75MPH winds is somehow unique to American history, the result of “tampering” with “nature with oil, coal, and gas pollution.” And it hasn’t even made landfall yet. I don’t have to call BS on their idiotic claims, because the facts do it for me."

He follows with a long, really long, list of October Hurricanes that made landfall in the US, pretty much all of which have higher winds than Sandy.

I'm not impressed by the hype surrounding this so-called Frankenstorm. People have dealt with storms like this for tens of thousands of years, at least. I think I'd be more scared of FEMA.

In order to promote itself, NASA jumps on Frankenstorm meme.

First the news creates a bunch of anxiety about the storm, then it reports on the anxiety. The press salivates over storms. I bet storms are their biggest source of revenue. People are still awed by the power of nature, as we should be.

Tax and Spend

Federal deficit tops $1 trillion for fourth straight year.

FEMA examines Waffle House business to determine the breadth and depth of a disaster. As happy as I am that somebody in FEMA recognizes that the private sector knows more about disaster than centrally planned government ever can, I cannot condone even one dollar stolen from the American people to fund FEMA.

Police State

The feds don't track how often their informants commit crimes. That's convenient. As if we needed more proof that laws are only for us serfs, not for our rulers.

House of Representatives bill HR 6566 orders FEMA and DHS to prepare for mass casualties and burials for different religions.