Free California

9/12 Protest Signs

2009-09-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

View the whole set. Do we in California really want these people to choose our elected officials?

Imprisoned and tortured for 8 years for looking at a website

2009-02-12T14:43:00.000-08:00

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1138845/Food-writers-online-guide-building-H-bomb--evidence-man-Guantanamo.html

A British ‘resident’ held at Guantanamo Bay was identified as a terrorist after confessing he had visited a ‘joke’ website on how to build a nuclear weapon, it was revealed last night.

Binyam Mohamed, a former UK asylum seeker, admitted to having read the ‘instructions’ after allegedly being beaten, hung up by his wrists for a week and having a gun held to his head in a Pakistani jail.
...
During his eight-year imprisonment, Mohamed has allegedly been flown to secret torture centres in Pakistan, Morocco, an American-run jail known as the Dark Prison near Kabul in Afghanistan and, finally, to Guantanamo Bay.

A Documentary about Secession in the West

2009-02-05T21:21:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dr0i_B0FNRY

Maureen Futtner's film A State of Mine examines secession movements in California. See also http://www.astateofmine.com/about_us.html.

MetaFilter: Should California Secede?

2009-02-05T21:17:00.000-08:00

http://www.metafilter.com/27135/Should-California-Secede

Dude. To hell with moving to Canada. I'm not giving up that easily. This may not be the best time to be a liberal, but why concede? Secede! With the 5th largest economy in the world, prodigious industry, a diverse population, rich natural resources, and a growing rift with the federal government, why is California sharing a budget with the unbeautiful when we could be enjoying our very own Republic? Is it for lack of leadership? Or lack of a clue?

SWAT-style police raid over a dozen eggs

2009-02-02T12:05:00.000-08:00

http://www.ftcldf.org/news/news-31dec2008-3.htm

The family responded that they didn't sell food and couldn't help. When he refused to leave, the family gave him a dozen eggs to hasten his departure, Thompson explained.

Despite protests from the family, the agent left some money on a counter and departed.

On the basis of that transaction, the Stowers were accused of engaging in the retail sale of food, Thompson said.

Clearly entrapment. But it gets better.

"We had a sheriff's department group of about 11-12, I don't know, 13 men come into our home. It was violent, it was belligerent, they didn't identify themselves," Jacqueline Stowers said.

She and 10 children were forcibly herded into a room and held there for at least six hours, she said.

"In the meantime we had people with guns inside and outside," she said.

Thompson said officers confiscated the family's personal computers, cell phones and food supplies, even though the Manna Storehouse food supplies were in another building.

Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America

2009-02-02T11:44:00.000-08:00

Radley Balko has written a paper about paramilitary police raids in the United States.

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6476

These increasingly frequent raids, 40,000 per year by one estimate, are needlessly subjecting nonviolent drug offenders, bystanders, and wrongly targeted civilians to the terror of having their homes invaded while they’re sleeping, usually by teams of heavily armed paramilitary units dressed not as police officers but as soldiers.

See also this interactive map.

Police raid mayor's house, kill dogs

2009-02-02T10:25:00.000-08:00

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/06/AR2008080602795.html

Posing as a deliveryman, a deputy took the package to the family's door. After Mr. Calvo's mother-in-law initially refused to sign for it, the package was finally taken into the home, where it sat, unopened, on the living room floor. Whereupon the deputies, guns drawn, kicked in the door, stormed the house and shot to death the Calvos' two Labrador retrievers, one of them, apparently, as it attempted to flee. The canine threat thus dispatched, the mayor -- in his briefs -- and his mother-in-law were handcuffed and interrogated in close proximity to the bloodied corpses of their dogs.

Within an hour, it seems, the police concluded that something was seriously wrong and that there was at least a strong possibility that the Calvos -- whose home contained not the slightest evidence of involvement in the drug trade -- were unsuspecting victims. The deputies left without making arrests.

This was six months ago. No action has been taken against the officers or the police departments involved.

Top 10 Signs of the Impending U.S. Police State

2007-10-24T15:55:00.001-07:00

From secret detention centers to warrantless wiretapping, Bush and Co. give free rein to their totalitarian impulses.

http://www.alternet.org/story/36553/

Circuit City illegally detains customer, police arrive and illegally arrest customer

2007-09-03T14:47:00.001-07:00

http://newsite.michaelrighi.com/2007/09/01/arrested-at-circuit-city/

Two minutes later Brooklyn, Ohio police officer Ernie Arroyo arrived on the scene. As I began to explain the story leading up to Joe Atha preventing my egress from the parking lot, officer Arroyo began to question why I refused to show my receipt in the first place. I explained that I lawfully purchased the contents in the bag and didn’t feel that it was necessary for me to let a Circuit City employee inspect the bag as I left. Officer Arroyo disagreed. He claimed that stores have the right to inspect all receipts and all bags upon leaving their store.

At this point Officer Arroyo asked to see my receipt and driver’s license. I handed over the receipt, and stated that my name is Michael Righi. Again, Officer Arroyo asked to see my driver’s license. The conversation went something like this:

Me: “I’m required by law to state that my name is Michael Righi, but I do not have to provide you with my driver’s license since I am not operating a vehicle.”
Officer Arroyo: “Give me your driver’s license or I will place you under arrest.”
Me: “My name is Michael Righi. I am not willing to provide you with my driver’s license.”
Officer Arroyo: “Turn around and up against the wall.”

In Ohio, you are not legally required to show ID to the police unless you are driving, and Circuit City employees certainly can't detain you without evidence of a crime.

10 years in prison for selling light bulbs

2007-08-24T23:03:00.000-07:00

A DEA agent approached the owner of a store that sold legal hydroponics equipment and asked him to allow them to install cameras in the store so the Feds could spy on his customers. He said no, and the DEA proceeded to put him out of business and into prison.

http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A10762&comments=yes#comments

"Even if I was guilty, 10 years seems excessive when there were bank robbers who were in there for two or three years, and I got 10 years for selling light bulbs," he says, his voice rising as if framing a question.

"This drug war forced two little kids to grow up without their dad and my ex-wife to go without child-support for eight years, and for what?" he continues. "I'm not saying I'm above the law, but I know in my heart I'm not the type of person who needed to be in prison."

And yet, once there, the outrageousness of his circumstances blended into a background of statistics: He simply became another of the anonymous drug offenders who make up 57 percent of all federal inmates.

Man sentenced to 25 years in prison for legal possession of his own prescription drugs

2007-07-27T16:07:00.000-07:00

Mark O'Hara left jail without handcuffs Wednesday, two years after he went to prison and one week since an appeals court ordered him a new trial.

He was serving a 25-year sentence for having 58 Vicodin pills in his bread truck. Jurors weren't told that it is legal to possess the drug with a prescription, which he had.

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/07/26/Hillsborough/Freed_man_still_in_li.shtml

Cops invade home without warrant due to upside-down flag

2007-07-27T15:39:00.000-07:00

After his experience, Mark Kuhn said he is convinced this is not an isolated occurrence. “If Americans don’t wake up to the martial state we’re in, the cops, the police, the sheriffs, the state police will all come to our door and take us away if we allow this to happen – it’s time for America to wake up.”

http://www.mountainx.com/news/2007/flagged_down_activists_arrested_in_row_over_protest_flag_allege_abuse_by_bu

Bye, Bye, Miss American Empire

2007-06-30T02:02:00.000-07:00

http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/311

Illinois State Police intimidating gun rights supporters

2007-06-25T01:16:00.001-07:00

Illinois State Police (ISP) detectives have been visiting the homes of people who phoned or faxed Sen. Dan Kotowski (D-Park Ridge) to express opposition to gun control legislation sponsored by the senator.

In the case investigated thus far, the respondent reports that ISP
detectives arrived at his home, unannounced, and informed him that their
visit was in response to faxes he sent to Sen. Kotowski. The detectives
then went on to ask the citizen questions about his mental health and other
personal matters. Although the citizen was not arrested, he reports that he
feels that the detectives were there to deliver the message that it's not a
good idea to criticize Dan Kotowski or the gun control measures Kotowski
supports.

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/06-18-2007/0004610614&EDATE=

NBC claims movie piracy hurts corn growers

2007-06-24T23:51:00.000-07:00

"In the absence of movie piracy, video retailers would sell and rent more titles. Movie theaters would sell more tickets and popcorn. Corn growers would earn greater profits and buy more farm equipment."

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/22/ce-oh-no-he-didnt-part-xxxv-nbc-sez-piracy-hurts-corn-grower/

California Split

2007-06-22T01:42:00.000-07:00

The United States is almost certainly too big to be a meaningful democracy. What does “participatory democracy” mean in a continent? Sooner or later, a profound, probably regional, decentralization of the federal system may be all but inevitable....If the scale of a country renders it unmanageable, there are two possible responses. One is a breakup of the nation; the other is a radical decentralization of power.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/10/opinion/10alperovitz.html?ex=1328763600&en=2e8dc0cd80e2d9d0&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Russia "threatens" to recognize California's independence

2007-06-15T14:46:00.000-07:00

According to some sources, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, during a Wednesday press conference in Sweden, threatened the breakup of the United States by stating that an American unilateral recognition of Kosovo as an independent state could prompt Russia to do the same for California "should they request it."

http://byzantinesacredart.com/blog/2007/06/california-independence.html

Man Faces 7 Year Sentence Under "Wiretapping Law" For Filming Police

2007-06-14T16:09:00.000-07:00

Filming someone in a public place with no expectation of privacy is not wiretapping. In fact, filming police officers interacting with the public, secretly if possible, should be strongly encouraged, as it is the only way to deter the abuse of police power.

http://www.informationliberation.com/index.php?id=22471

Even simply taking photographs can get you into trouble these days.

http://www.freedomtophotograph.com/

TSA freaks out over toddler's sippy cup

2007-06-14T16:01:00.000-07:00

http://www.nowpublic.com/nightmare_at_reagan_national_airport_a_security_story_to_end_all_security_stories

In this post 9/11 world we can't be too careful.

Quadriplegic dies in jail after being sentenced for marijuana possession

2007-06-08T12:16:00.000-07:00

A 27-year-old quadriplegic man sentenced to serve ten days in a Washington, DC jail on charges that he possessed a minor amount of marijuana died while in custody last week due to inadequate health care, including prison officials' failure to provide him with a ventilator.

http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=6282

US military planned terrorist attacks against US cities

2007-05-30T09:43:00.000-07:00

In the early 1960s, America’s top military leaders reportedly drafted plans to kill innocent people and commit acts of terrorism in U.S. cities to create public support for a war against Cuba.

Code named Operation Northwoods, the plans reportedly included the possible assassination of Cuban émigrés, sinking boats of Cuban refugees on the high seas, hijacking planes, blowing up a U.S. ship, and even orchestrating violent terrorism in U.S. cities.

http://www.truthera.com/2007/05/29/abc-news-uncovers-operation-northwoods/

2007-05-27T02:17:00.000-07:00

Mother arrested for breastfeeding baby, children taken away

2007-05-24T16:04:00.000-07:00

When a Peruvian immigrant in the USA had a photograph taken of the act
of breastfeeding, American police forces alerted by a photo lab technician
briefly considered it to be sexual abuse and production of child
pornography, resulting in the mother's arrest and the seizure of her
children

http://www.dallasobserver.com/2003-04-17/news/1-hour-arrest/full

Homeland Security funds illegal roadblock

2007-05-15T23:21:00.000-07:00

It wasn’t a roadblock, because roadblocks are illegal, according to the U.S. Supreme Court.

It was a safety inspection.

"There’s a difference between a checkpoint and a roadblock," Sheriff Donnie Smith said Monday.

To be more precise, it wasn't called a roadblock because roadblocks are illegal.

http://bangordailynews.com/news/t/downeast.aspx?articleid=149858&zoneid=177

Officer allowed to quit quietly after marijuana brownie case

2007-05-10T14:30:00.000-07:00

Dearborn police declined to pursue criminal charges against one of its officers last year, even after the cop admitted to taking marijuana from criminal suspects and, with his wife, cooking it up in brownies.

How did he get caught?

The department's investigation began with a bizarre 911 call from Sanchez's home in Dearborn Heights. On the night of April 21, 2006, a panicky Sanchez told an emergency dispatcher he thought he and his wife were overdosing on marijuana.

"I think we're dying," he said in the 5-minute tape, obtained under the Michigan Freedom of Information Act.

"We made brownies and I think we're dead, I really do," Sanchez continued.

http://www.dailypressandargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070510/NEWS01/70510005