All posts by Samuel Eaton

Dr. Ben Carson: Prisons Are Proof People Choose to be Gay

While appearing on CNN’s “New Day”, potential GOP presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson stated that being gay is “absolutely” a choice. “New Day” host Chris Cuomo asked Carson why he thought homosexuality was a choice.

Carson responded: “Because a lot of people go into prison straight and when they come out, they’re gay. So, did something happen while they were in there? Ask yourself that question.”

Carson went on to say, “Here is what is important. Why do gay people want to get married? Why do they say they want to get married? Because they want to have various rights — property rights, visitation rights. Why can’t any two human beings, I don’t care what their sexual orientation is, why can’t they have the legal right to do those things? That does not require changing the definition of marriage.”

Snowden: Remove The Government’s Ability To Interfere With Our Rights

In an ‘Ask Me Anything’ question and answer session on Reddit, Edward Snowden was asked: “What’s the best way to make NSA spying an issue in the 2016 Presidential Election? It seems like while it was a big deal in 2013, ISIS and other events have put it on the back burner for now in the media and general public. What are your ideas for how to bring it back to the forefront?”

Snowden replied:

This is a good question, and there are some good traditional answers here. Organizing is important. Activism is important.

At the same time, we should remember that governments don’t often reform themselves. One of the arguments in a book I read recently (Bruce Schneier, “Data and Goliath”), is that perfect enforcement of the law sounds like a good thing, but that may not always be the case. The end of crime sounds pretty compelling, right, so how can that be?

Well, when we look back on history, the progress of Western civilization and human rights is actually founded on the violation of law. America was of course born out of a violent revolution that was an outrageous treason against the crown and established order of the day. History shows that the righting of historical wrongs is often born from acts of unrepentant criminality. Slavery. The protection of persecuted Jews.

But even on less extremist topics, we can find similar examples. How about the prohibition of alcohol? Gay marriage? Marijuana?

Where would we be today if the government, enjoying powers of perfect surveillance and enforcement, had — entirely within the law — rounded up, imprisoned, and shamed all of these lawbreakers?

Ultimately, if people lose their willingness to recognize that there are times in our history when legality becomes distinct from morality, we aren’t just ceding control of our rights to government, but our agency in determing thour futures.

How does this relate to politics? Well, I suspect that governments today are more concerned with the loss of their ability to control and regulate the behavior of their citizens than they are with their citizens’ discontent.

How do we make that work for us? We can devise means, through the application and sophistication of science, to remind governments that if they will not be responsible stewards of our rights, we the people will implement systems that provide for a means of not just enforcing our rights, but removing from governments the ability to interfere with those rights.

You can see the beginnings of this dynamic today in the statements of government officials complaining about the adoption of encryption by major technology providers. The idea here isn’t to fling ourselves into anarchy and do away with government, but to remind the government that there must always be a balance of power between the governing and the governed, and that as the progress of science increasingly empowers communities and individuals, there will be more and more areas of our lives where — if government insists on behaving poorly and with a callous disregard for the citizen — we can find ways to reduce or remove their powers on a new — and permanent — basis.

Our rights are not granted by governments.

They are inherent to our nature. But it’s entirely the opposite for governments: their privileges are precisely equal to only those which we suffer them to enjoy.

We haven’t had to think about that much in the last few decades because quality of life has been increasing across almost all measures in a significant way, and that has led to a comfortable complacency. But here and there throughout history, we’ll occasionally come across these periods where governments think more about what they “can” do rather than what they “should” do, and what is lawful will become increasingly distinct from what is moral.

In such times, we’d do well to remember that at the end of the day, the law doesn’t defend us; we defend the law. And when it becomes contrary to our morals, we have both the right and the responsibility to rebalance it toward just ends.

Glenn Greenwald focused on how the issue did not break down along party lines:

The key tactic DC uses to make uncomfortable issues disappear is bipartisan consensus. When the leadership of both parties join together – as they so often do, despite the myths to the contrary – those issues disappear from mainstream public debate.

The most interesting political fact about the NSA controversy, to me, was how the divisions didn’t break down at all on partisan lines. Huge amount of the support for our reporting came from the left, but a huge amount came from the right. When the first bill to ban the NSA domestic metadata program was introduced, it was tellingly sponsored by one of the most conservative Tea Party members (Justin Amash) and one of the most liberal (John Conyers).

The problem is that the leadership of both parties, as usual, are in full agreement: they love NSA mass surveillance. So that has blocked it from receiving more debate. That NSA program was ultimately saved by the unholy trinity of Obama, Nancy Pelosi and John Bohener, who worked together to defeat the Amash/Conyers bill.

The division over this issue (like so many other big ones, such as crony capitalism that owns the country) is much more “insider v. outsider” than “Dem v. GOP”. But until there are leaders of one of the two parties willing to dissent on this issue, it will be hard to make it a big political issue.

That’s why the Dem efforts to hand Hillary Clinton the nomination without contest are so depressing. She’s the ultimate guardian of bipartisan status quo corruption, and no debate will happen if she’s the nominee against some standard Romney/Bush-type GOP candidate. Some genuine dissenting force is crucial.

Both make great points. We must remember that it is our duty to restore our rights and take away the power of the government to destroy those rights. But to do so means full spectrum cooperation.

Read the whole Snowden, Greenwald, and Poitras Reddit AMA here.

US Central Command Twitter and YouTube Account Hacked

A pro-ISIS group has hacked the US Central Command’s Twitter account. For a few minutes, its feed was filled with warnings:

“AMERICAN SOLDIERS, WE ARE COMING, WATCH YOUR BACK. ISIS.”

“We won’t stop! We know everything about you. Your wives and children.”

centcom5

“ISIS is already here, we are in your PCs, in each military base.” 

The profile images were also changed. Images with the words “I love you ISIS” and “CyberCaliphate” were added. Screen shots of military commanders emails and phone numbers were also published to the feed.

Minutes after the hack, the Twitter account was suspended.

“We can confirm that the U.S. Central Command Twitter account was compromised earlier today,” a Defense official told Fox News. “CENTCOM is taking appropriate measure to address the matter.”

 

The @centcom Twitter account was hacked around 1:09 p.m. EST while the YouTube channel was hacked around 1:30 p.m. EST.

On the YouTube channel, two new videos were uploaded to the U.S. Central Command’s YouTube channel, titled “Flames of War ISIS Video” and “O Soldiers of Truth Go Forth”, before the account was terminated by YouTube upon the Pentagon’s request.

Charlie Hebdo Attack: Two Standoffs In France

Two standoffs between police anti-terror units and terror suspects are unfolding in France: two brothers are being sought in the Charlie Hebdo attack, and a hostage situation has been reported at a grocery store.

Amedy Coulibaly, a suspect wanted in Thursday’s shooting of a police officer, is said to be holding six hostages inside a kosher store.

Authorities say that the Kouachi brothers, suspects in Wednesday’s shooting at the offices of Charlie Hebdo, are surrounded by police inside a printing business in the town of Dammartin-en-Goele.

According to CNN, as of 9:22 a.m. eastern:

• Roads were blocked off near the hostage situation at the grocery store near Porte de Vincennes, with heavily armed law enforcement seen inside.

• Meanwhile, in Dammartin-en-Goele, Brandet tweeted that negotiating teams have made it their top priority trying to establish a dialogue with the extremists inside the building. Yves Albarello, who is in France’s parliament, said on French channel iTele that the two suspects told police by phone that they wanted to die as martyrs.

• There had been no assault, nor any injuries or deaths, as of 1 p.m. (7 a.m. ET), the Interior Ministry spokesman added.

• A salesman, who identified himself only as Didier, told France Info radio that he shook one of the gunman’s hands as they arrived around 8:30 a.m. Friday at a Dammartin-en-Goele printing business — the same place where the Kouachi brothers are believed to be surrounded. Didier told the public radio station that he first thought the man, who was dressed in black and heavily armed, was a police officer.

As he left, the armed man said, “Go, we don’t kill civilians.” Didier said, “It wasn’t normal. I did not know what was going on.”

• Dammartin-en-Goele residents have been told to stay inside, and schools are on lockdown, the mayor’s media office told CNN on Friday. Shops in the town have been told to close.

• These aren’t the only incidents occupying French authorities. So, too, is the fatal shooting of a policewoman Thursday in Montrouge, a southern suburb of Paris. French police released photos Friday of a man and a woman — Coulibaly and Hayat Boumeddiene, 26 — who they believe carried out this attack and are believed to be armed and dangerous.

Google streetview of hostage location:

Hostage location

Gun Control Advocate: Steal Your Parent’s Guns & Bring Them To School

Gun control advocate and short filmmaker Rejina Sincic has given the worst possible advice in her latest film.

In the film, that you can view above, a teenage boy sneaks into his mother’s bedroom and steals her gun. It is unknown if the gun is loaded or not. The teenager then takes the gun to school where he waits the whole day before pulling it out of his backpack and handing it to his teacher:

“Can you take this away? I don’t feel safe with a gun in my house.”

How many laws did Sincic suggest the boy break? According to Bearing Arms:

  • Weapons theft
  • Unlawful possession of a fire arm by a minor
  • Illegal concealed carry of a weapon
  • Carrying a weapon on to school property
  • Assault
  • Brandishing a weapon

If the point of the video was to get the boy expelled, arrested or worse, killed, she gives great advice.

Breaking: Florida Police Officer Shot And Killed

The Pinellas County Sheriff’s office said a Florida police officer was shot and killed early Sunday morning. The shooting occurred at 3 A. M. when the officer was responding to a noise complaint in the town of Tarpon Springs.

The male suspect has been placed in custody. A news conference is scheduled for Sunday afternoon.

Top Google Searched Politicians Of 2014

Obama tops the list of the most Google searched politicians in 2014. Republicans took the majority of the spots with 6 of the 10 being Republican. One major politician missing from the list: Hillary Clinton. Is Senator Elizabeth Warren stealing Hillary’s spotlight, or is Senator Warren a flash in the pan?

Who would you like to have seen in the top 10?

Breaking: Missouri Governor Declares State Of Emergency in Ferguson

Ferguson, MO- KFVS12 is reporting that Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has declared a state of emergency and has activated the National Guard in advance of the announcement of the Grand Jury’s decision of whether Ferguson Officer Darren Wilson will be charged in the August shooting of Michael Brown. The state of emergency will last 30 days.

Nixon said that the National Guard will assist local and state police. In his executive order, he cited “possibility of expanded unrest.” Nixon acknowledged that people have the right to peacefully protest, but said the state must protect businesses and citizens from harm.

There has been no time or date provided for the Grand Jury’s announcement.

Ben Swann recently reported from Ferguson. Watch Swann’s report below.

Julie Borowski Brilliantly Dismantles FCKH8’s Viral Video

Julie Borowski recently released a new video spoofing FCKH8.com’s viral video. In FCKH8’s video, young girls use the F-word to sell t-shirts by pointing out the old, worn out and often disproved talking points of the far left feminist movement.

Borowski destroys the talking points.

Pay inequality:  Women do not make 23% less than men for the same exact job. Source

Rape & Violence: 1 in 5 women will not be sexually assaulted. The survey that FCKH8 sourced never asked if the woman was sexually assaulted. Source

Borowski points out that the government is making women less safe by trying to regulate and/or taking their rights to defend themselves.

Borowski ends the video with a simple message:

“So screw your victimization.”

Watching A Homeless Vet Get His Sign Torn Up Will Put A Smile On Your Face

Magician and YouTube sensation Rob Anderson surprised Alan McCracken, a homeless veteran, when he approached him and started to tear up his sign. McCracken did not seem to be upset as he watched Rob destroy his sign, even asking if he could keep the magic marker to make another sign.

But before too long, McCracken figured out what Anderson was up to. Rob was a street magician performing a magic trick that ended up with the sign being intact and full of money.

Anderson’s generosity did not stop there. He set up a GoFundMe for McCracken that as of noon eastern had raised over $7,600.

CSPOA Live Event

Started on Sep 17, 2014
CSPOA Event: Lighting the Lamp of Liberty National Press Club – 529 14th Street, NW 13th Floor, Washington D.C.

New Media Takes Center Stage
8:10 Speaker: Steve Stockman – Congressman
Stockman Introduces Real Border Bill – To Build Fence, Cut Off Welfare
The Right of Self Defense, Second Amendment
Success in Rejecting Agenda 21
The County Sheriff – Our Elected Last Line of Defense
8:50
Speaker: Ben Swann – Truth in Media Project
9:00
Speaker: Stewart Rhodes – President of Oathkeepers
Open Letter of Warning to Gov. Nixon from Missouri Oath Keepers!
9:10
Speaker: Ramona Hage Morrison – Author
Hage Family Victorious, Federal Judge: BLM Engaged in a Criminal Conspiracy!
9:20
Speaker: Dr. Scott Bradley – Author: To Preserve the Nation
The Folly of a Con-Con
The New York SAFE Act, the gun-control Deception!
We must free her son Sergeant Andrew Tahmooressi from a Mexican Jail!
9:50 BREAK
CSPOA Resolution
Checks and Balances
Gun-grabber Bloomberg’s epic fail in Milwaukee
10:45
Speaker: Richard Mack – Founder of CSPOA
Solutions are not in Washington. New Book: “Are You a David?”

Raw Video: Ferguson Police Gas News Crew

Ferguson, MO – Ferguson police fired tear gas near AL JAZEERA AMERICA TV news crew’s vehicles Wednesday night.   The news crew was forced to flee the scene, leaving their equipment behind.

Police ignored the screams of

“We’re the press!”

Moments later, an armored vehicle packed with police officers pulled up and started taking down the video equipment until they noticed another news crew was across the street filming their actions.

A man behind the camera can be heard saying “I’ll get behind something, I don’t want [bleeped].”

Then police ordered them to leave the area.

Earlier that evening, photojournalist Elizabeth Matthews was reporting on the school closing when riot police flushed the protesters in their direction. Another photojournalist then walked over to film the police who had a suspect on the ground. That is when the police officers turned on the photojournalist. The police shined bright lights in their direction then opened fire with a bean bag gun. The bean bag hit the camera equipment.

Police Officer Arresting Another Police Officer? Nope, Says A Connecticut State’s Attorney

Enfield, Conn. – Police officers in Enfield, Connecticut were ready to arrest one of their own. On April 1st, Officer Matthew Worden brutally assaulted a suspect when Worden claimed the suspect was resisting arrest. However, Worden’s story does not match the injuries or the video that recorded the incident.

Worden told Lt. Lawrence Curtis that he hit the suspect, Mark Maher, twice in the shoulder because he was “tensing his arm” and “clenching his fists” during a pat down on the hood of the cruisermarkmaher_enfieldpd. Worden claimed he punched Maher’s upper right arm “to disrupt the nerves and incapacitate the muscles so the arms could be controlled.”

In the 7-page arrest warrant that attempted to charge Worden with third-degree assault and fabricating evidence, the actions of Worden were deemed “neither necessary nor needed.” The application goes on to to state that the video does not show Maher resisting arrest, but rather shows Worden throwing Maher to the ground and adjusting his glove before delivering more punches.

“We conducted our own criminal investigation and reviewed all of the statements and evidence and believed we had probable cause to submit an arrest warrant,” Enfield Police Chief Carl Sferrazza said.

In the rejection letter, sent late last week, state’s attorney Gail Hardy said the video “depicts many moving parts where it is extremely difficult to keep up with everything that is going on with all parties.” The letter also stated that although the actions of Worden violated the police department rules, the actions did not elevate to criminal level.

This is not the first time Worden has had the spotlight on him. According to the Hartford CourantEnfield, a department with nearly 100 sworn officers, has had 26 civilian complaints in the past four years. One-third of those were against Worden, records show. In 2013, Worden had half of the six citizen’s complaints against the department.

Worden has had complaints ranging from being rude at traffic stops, racial profiling, ordering a dog to attack a person Worden mistook for a burglar and once was suspended for getting into a fist fight with a fellow officer during a domestic dispute with Worden’s then-girlfriend. Worden was arrested but the charges were dropped.

Maher was charged with resisting arrest.

Breaking: White Flags Fly Over Brooklyn Bridge

New York – Police are investigating why two white flags are flying over the Brooklyn Bridge. The two flags appear to be faded or white American flags. Normally, traditional American flags are flown in these two spots.

Police have arrived at the scene and officers are climbing the bridge.

Here are some tweets of the events:

 

 

We will update this article as more details become available.

 

Update #1 5:30 p.m. eastern: The American flags are back flying over the bridge. The NYPD said there are no terror connections to the white flags. Surveillance footage shows at 3:10 a.m. four or five people crossing the bridge, then minutes later the light that shined on the flags went out. Police discovered large aluminium pans zip tied to the lights.

“It appears to have no particular connections to terrorism or even to politics,” Miller said. “This may be somebody’s art project or even a statement.”

Hey Rolling Stone: How About These Apples, erm, GUNS?

After reading the laughable Rolling Stone article “The 5 Most Dangerous Guns In America” that listed guns like pistols and revolvers, it got me thinking: what are the most awesome guns on the market?

To be honest, I’m not a “gun guy”- I keep it simple- so I contacted my friend Mike Lorrey, a social media coordinator of Gun Rights Across America and asked him, “What are the most awesome guns someone can buy?” Mike came back with this power packed list.

P-90

This gun was known to be used in the  T.V. series SG-1.

GE Minigun

This gun might not need any explanation when you watch this video.

Barrett M82-A1

This is a long range sniper rifle that packs a punch.

Desert Eagle

Want to feel the power in your hand? Then the Desert Eagle is for you.

Kel-Tec Shotgun (KSG)

15 rounds of pump action badassness.

 

What guns would make your most awesome gun list? Comment below.

 

Follow Sam @DontTreadOnMeNH

 

Mexican Military Chopper Opens Fire On US Border Patrol Agents

TUCSON – News 4 is reporting that a Mexican military chopper crossed the United States border and opened fire on US Border Patrol agents.

The incident occurred early Thursday morning, west of the San Miguel Gate on the Tohono O’Odham Nation. There are no reports of injuries or deaths at this time.

Two statements have been released:

Art del Cueto, Border Patrol Tucson Sector union president:

The incident occurred after midnight and before 6 a.m. Helicopter flew into the U.S. and fired on two U.S. Border Patrol agents. The incident occurred west of the San Miguel Gate on the Tohono O’odham Indian Nation. The agents were unharmed. The helicopter went back into Mexico. Mexico then contacted U.S. authorities and apologized for the incident.

Andy Adame, U.S. Border Patrol Spokesperson:

Early this morning, a Mexican law enforcement helicopter crossed approximately 100 yards north into Arizona nearly 8 miles southwest of the Village of San Miguel on the Tohono O’odham Indian Nation while on a drug interdiction operation near the border. Two shots were fired from the helicopter but no injuries or damage to US property were reported. The incident is currently under investigation.

Breaking: House Votes to Stop Medical Marijuana and Hemp Prosecutions

Washington, DC – On Friday morning, the House voted 219-189 to halt prosecutions of medical marijuana users in states where medical marijuana is legal and they have a doctor’s prescription for the medicine.

An appropriations amendment offered by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) prohibits the DEA from spending funds to arrest medical marijuana users. The amendment had bipartisan support.

Rohrabacher said the amendment “should be a no-brainer.”

Tom Angell, chairman of Marijuana Majority, said“This historic vote shows just how quickly marijuana reform has become a mainstream issue.” Angell continued, “If any political observers weren’t aware that the end of the war on marijuana is nearing, they just found out.”

Angell issued this statement:

“This historic vote shows just how quickly marijuana reform has become a mainstream issue. The last time a similar amendment came up it didn’t come very close to passing but, since then, more states have passed medical marijuana laws and a couple have even legalized marijuana for all adults. More states are on this way later this year and in 2016, and it’s clear that more politicians are beginning to realize that the American people want the federal government to stop standing in the way. If any political observers weren’t aware that the end of the war on marijuana is nearing, they just found out.”

Just moments later, the House also approved language that would stop the Federal Justice Department from interfering with states that wish to grow industrial hemp.

The Senate will most likely be considering its own DEA appropriations  bill. The House amendment will still need to get through a joint conference before the DEA will be unable to use the funds to arrest medical marijuana users.

 

ObamaCare Processors Getting Paid To Do Nothing

Wentzville, MO – An ObamaCare processor operated by Serco with a 1.2 billion dollar contract is paying its employees in a Wentzville, Missouri process center to do nothing, according to a Serco employee and whistleblower.

The whistleblower claims that despite not having enough work for their current employees Serco is still hiring. “They want to hire more people even though we still don’t have work to keep the people we have busy.” He claims that hundreds of employees sit staring into computer screens with little or nothing to do.

“There are weeks that a data entry person would not process an application.”

The whistleblower goes on to say:

“They’re told to sit at their computers and hit the refresh button every ten minutes.”

The goals set for the processors are to handle two applications a month and sometimes they are unable to even do that. The whistleblower claims that throughout several states Serco has 1,800 employees vying for 1 to 30 applications that appear in the database.

Why would Serco have so many employees working on a handful of applications? According to the whistleblower, Serco gets paid based on the number of workers they have employed, which means they want employees to show up even if there is nothing to do.

Serco refused to respond to the whistleblower’s comments.

Minimum Wage Survey Results

The results of the minimum wage survey are in and the results are overwhelming. The majority of BenSwann.com readers think there should be no minimum wage.  64.78% say the minimum wage should be set to $0/hr with ‘stay the same as it currently is’ coming in second with 13.94%. The majority of those who commented “other” on the question stated that they believe the government should not have a role in setting the minimum wage.

 

min wage survey

 

When survey takers were asked to comment on the minimum wage the same trend was found.

One survey taker said:

“I employ 73 people in an Assisted Living Community. I don’t pay anyone the minimum wage they all make more than that. If we by law had to pay $10.00 + an hour it would only hurt the concumers of our service because we would have to charge more each month from our residents. We would just raise the cost of our products and services. That is what all companies will do, as well as let go off employees. That is the only way! Minimum wage jobs are not supposed to be a living wage, they are stepping stone jobs while going to school or learning new skills to move up a career ladder. It is assinine to think that we would be providing for kids while working at McDonald’s or Walmart for minimum wage. What happened to the American dream? Go get an education and a skill set people. I am the Administrator but I got 3 degrees and worked plenty of low pay jobs to ultimately get here. That is what I look for in people to they have aspirations and a goal? The Federal Government and all its entitled hand-outs and programs are crippling people of this country. Increasing minimum wages will only hurt the poorest in this country period!”

 

Another commented:

“Minimum wage does nothing but remove the bottom rung of the ladder to make it more difficult for poor people to climb out of poverty. Prices will rise to compensate for w/e min wage is enacted and we will all pay more for everything. Thus the transfer of wealth from the middle class to the elite increases with it.”

One business owner said a raise in the minimum wage would force them to close their business.

“As a small business owner, and increase in minimum wage will force me to close my doors.”

Some pointed to the Federal Reserve as the reason the minimum wage is an issue.

“Minimum wage has only become an issue because of the devaluation of the dollar by the Federal Reserve.Minimum wage has only become an issue because of the devaluation of the dollar by the Federal Reserve.”

Some did comment stating they would be happy to pay more for products if there was a minimum wage increase.

“I’d rather pay high prices for goods and services than have my taxes increased to support welfare for those that have jobs.”

“I believe minimum wage should of kept up with inflation. How else are regular citizens suppose to afford the things they need in life?”

 

What are your thoughts on the minimum wage?

 

 

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