Rational Review » LAND News

ANNOUNCEMENT: We are moving!

Mary Lou Seymour — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 02:22:06 +0000

As of today, Liberty Action News, a service of Rational Review News, will be moving to a new site at http://rationalreview.news-digests.com/land

Last week’s stories can still be found at the old site http://www.rationalreview.com/land

LAND: The week in review December 12-18

Mary Lou Seymour — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 02:20:46 +0000

Commentaries on Bill of Rights Day, Trapped in Bank of America hell, Terrorism by association, WikiLeaks as this century’s Upton Sinclair, The assault on Assange is an assault on liberty, “V” for Vigilante, Copsuckers, Gun Owners Year in Review — 2010, Six companies that haven’t wussed out of working with WikiLeaks, DoJ preps for ominous expansion of “anti-terrorism” Law targeting activists and more!

In the news, Assange (relatively) free on bail, UK Transit thugs to begin random searches, Suspicious” ornament shuts Pentagon train station, Lawyers in gun case argue for $3.13 million attorney fees, Assange still committed to publishing secret documents: mother, Australian Police who broke man’s leg over taunt may cost taxpayers $200,000, Limits of free speech tested by off-the-cuff online remarks

Til next week

For freedom

Mary Lou

UK: Assange (relatively) free on bail

Thomas L. Knapp — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 05:20:03 +0000

“A British court granted bail to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange Thursday after rejecting an appeal to keep him in jail while he fights extradition to Sweden to answer allegations of sex crimes. … The judge endorsed the stringent bail conditions imposed by the lower court, which included a 240,000-pound ($374,000) surety and the requirement that Assange wear an electronic tag and abide by a curfew. When he is released, Assange will swap the stark surroundings of Wandsworth prison in London for a friend’s country mansion in Suffolk, eastern England, and report regularly to police as conditions of the bail.” (12/16/10)

DC: Transit thugs to begin random searches

Steve Trinward — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 04:59:35 +0000

“Riders on the Washington metro system were warned Thursday to expect random checks of carry-on items two days after the government disclosed the arrest of an Afghan man for allegedly threatening to bomb the system. The stepped-up security [sic] measures at the height of the Christmas shopping season also coincided with a warning by Interpol that it had received information about possible Al-Qaeda attacks in the United States and Europe.” (12/16/10)

DC: “Suspicious” ornament shuts Pentagon train station

Mary Lou Seymour — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 02:35:52 +0000

“A blinking Christmas ornament in a Pentagon subway trash can caused the station to be shut down Wednesday during morning rush hour, diverting hundreds of passengers in frigid temperatures while authorities investigated the ’suspicious object.’” (12/15/10)

DC: Lawyers in gun case argue for $3.13 million attorney fees

Mary Lou Seymour — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 02:45:33 +0000

“Lawyers for the District of Columbia residents who successfully challenged the city’s ban on handguns were in court today defending their request for nearly $3.13 million in legal fees and costs. Alan Gura, the lead attorney for the plaintiffs, urged a Washington federal trial judge to award the team the prevailing market value for attorneys who handle complex federal litigation. Gura called the fee request reasonable, citing his efficiency and his overall success in the case.” (12/13/10)

Australia: Assange still committed to publishing secret documents: mother

Mary Lou Seymour — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 02:30:15 +0000

“WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange told his mother from his prison cell in London that he remained committed to publishing secret U.S. cables, despite condemnation from Washington and elsewhere, Australian television reported Tuesday.” [editor’s note: The picture accompanying this story is, well, you gotta see it … -MLS] (12/14/10)

Australia: Police who broke man’s leg over taunt may cost taxpayers $200,000

Mary Lou Seymour — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 02:28:10 +0000

“Police who broke a man’s leg after he taunted them about not being able to park a car could end up costing taxpayers $200,000 in compensation. The leg of Martin Francis, 46, was badly broken in two places, he lost his job and was out of work for eight months after he was wrongfully arrested in August last year and jammed into a police vehicle outside a Mount Isa nightclub.” (12/09/10)

Limits of free speech tested by off-the-cuff online remarks

Steve Trinward — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 02:03:47 +0000

“What’s a tweet, between friends? The law says sometimes it’s a threat. One man thought he was just bantering with his pals when he joked about blowing an airport sky-high. Another was reacting to a radio phone-in when he mused about stoning a journalist to death. Because they made their throwaway comments on Twitter, both are in legal trouble. Their cases have outraged civil libertarians and inflamed debate about the limits of free speech in a Web 2.0 world. The Internet makes private jokes, tastes, and opinions available for public consumption, blurring the line between public and private in a way that has left the law gasping to keep up.” (12/12/10)

LAND: The week in review December 5-11

Mary Lou Seymour — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 01:49:16 +0000

Commentaries on Power and force in “Crash”, Radical muslims aren’t alone, Nightmare with Child Protective Services, Problems in communications and political activism, End the FCC, Pushing a right to bear arms: The sharp kind, Homeland Security “messages” coming to Walmart, Government forced to release docs on spying program, and Wikileaks (What can one person do to help , Acid test,From Jefferson to Assange, Wikileaks vs. the empire, Wikileaks mirrors, Truth in chains, How WikiLeaks altered the way we see the world in just a week, Anatomy of a DDOS and why it matters to you, Hands off Assange, WikiLeaks no threat to free society, How denial works and Wanted by the empire, dead or alive.)

In the news, Pro-WikiLeaks cyber army gains strength, Protests shake Haiti after vote, We Won’t Fly billboard campaign takes off, Ohio Town debates dropping flag for pole-dancing Santa, Evidence for ET is mounting daily, but not proven, on again off again “Free Brian Aitken” Rally, Poll paints a bleak picture for the West in Afghanistan, Tennessee Efforts to copy Arizona Know-Nothing appeasement law , UK Santa faces littering rap, DoT exploring technology that would disable cell phones in cars, Three injured as police clash with protesters in Greece, PayPal joins Internet backlash against WikiLeaks, and Mississippi Supreme Court grants Corey Maye new trial

til next week

Fopr freedom!

Mary lou

Pro-WikiLeaks cyber army gains strength; thousands join DDoS attacks

Thomas L. Knapp — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 05:47:38 +0000

“The retaliatory attacks by pro-WikiLeaks activists are growing in strength as hackers add botnets and thousands of people download an open-source attack tool, security researchers said today. … Most of those participating in the attacks are using the LOIC (Low Orbit Ion Cannon) DDoS tool, said researchers with Imperva and Sophos. The open-source tool, which is sometimes classified as a legitimate network- and firewall-stress testing utility, is being downloaded at the rate of about 1,000 copies per hour, said Tal Be’ery, the Web research team lead at Imperva’s Application Defense Center.” (12/09/10)

Protests shake Haiti after vote

Steve Trinward — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 05:33:08 +0000

“Violent protests, ignited by preliminary presidential election results in Haiti that were widely considered suspect, shut down this troubled country yesterday and threatened the fragile stability that has held since the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake. Businesses and schools were closed, streets emptied of traffic, and the international airport was closed. Protesters set fire to the party headquarters of President Rene Preval’s chosen successor, and many hundreds marched on the Electoral Council offices, where United Nations peacekeeping troops repelled them with tear gas, rubber bullets, and flash-bang grenades.” (12/09/10)

We Won’t Fly billboard campaign takes off

Thomas L. Knapp — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 18:06:44 +0000

“If you thought the airport Opt Out Day demonstrations on the day before Thanksgiving was a one-shot showdown against abusive TSA tactics you thought wrong. The We Won’t Fly team of Jim Babb and George Donnelly has launched a follow-up protest — placing giant billboards outside America’s airports.” (12/08/10)

OH: Town debates dropping flag for pole-dancing Santa

Steve Trinward — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 02:28:51 +0000

“For more than a decade, as Christmas approached and a bone-chilling cold held the Midwest in its grip, officials in Willoughby, Ohio, would take down the most prominent American flag in town and replace it with … a pole-dancing Santa Claus. The illuminated Santa is part of an elaborate holiday light display in a downtown park, and leaders in the city located 18 miles northeast of Cleveland say Saint Nick has been swinging on that same 100-foot flagpole for about 12 years. But this year, for the first time, some residents of the town of 23,000 are saying the tradition is unpatriotic, especially in a time of war.” (12/08/10)

Evidence for ET is mounting daily, but not proven

Mary Lou Seymour — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 01:44:15 +0000

“Lately, a handful of new discoveries make it seem more likely that we are not alone — that there is life somewhere else in the universe. In the past several days, scientists have reported there are three times as many stars as they previously thought. Another group of researchers discovered a microbe can live on arsenic, expanding our understanding of how life can thrive under the harshest environments. And earlier this year, astronomers for the first time said they’d found a potentially habitable planet.” (12/08/10)

NJ: Gottlieb to speak at “Free Brian Aitken” Rally Dec.12

Mary Lou Seymour — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 03:01:29 +0000

“Alan Gottlieb, founder and executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation will travel to New Jersey Dec. 12 to join speakers at a rally in Toms River in support of Brian Aitken. The New Jersey man has been imprisoned for essentially having two legally-owned handguns in his car, parked at his parents’ home, along with other belongings he was moving to a new residence in another city.” (12/06/10)

Poll paints a bleak picture for the West in Afghanistan

Mary Lou Seymour — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 02:37:29 +0000

“Most Afghans want foreign troops out sooner rather than later because life is worse, rather than better, since the surge of tens of thousands of troops thrown into the fight by U.S. President Barack Obama a year ago. Big majorities want Hamid Karzai’s government to negotiate with the Taliban, regard corruption as endemic and believe Afghan government officials are pocketing much of the billions earmarked for aid and development.” (12/06/10)

TN: Efforts to copy Arizona Know-Nothing appeasement law bring fears

Steve Trinward — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 04:53:10 +0000

“State Sen. Bill Ketron, R-Murfreesboro, is working on a Tennessee version of the controversial Arizona law that made it a state crime to be in the country illegally [sic]. It also gave local police power to question and detain anyone they suspect of being an illegal immigrant. Ketron said he expects to file his bill by Thursday. ‘You can’t deny how (illegal immigration) is affecting us, from education to health care to the judicial system to incarceration, and more importantly the number of jobs it’s taken away,’ he said.” [editor’s note: Yes you can deny it; xenophobia, scapegoating and racism are the only purpose of this nonsense - SAT] (12/06/10)

UK: Santa faces littering rap

Mary Lou Seymour — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 01:44:11 +0000

“Council officials are threatening to prosecute a secret Santa for leaving Christmas gifts for children in a park. The mystery man, who signs himself The Woodland Santa, creeps into Pembrey country park, near Llanelli, at night to hang gift-wrapped books and toys from trees. But Carmarthenshire council warned the man that he could land in court for fly-tipping, reports The Mirror.” (12/02/10)

DoT exploring technology that would disable cell phones in cars

Mary Lou Seymour — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 01:19:55 +0000

“The Transportation Department is looking into technology to disable cell phones in vehicles, according to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. ‘There’s a lot of technology out there that can disable phones and we’re looking at that,’ LaHood said on MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe.’” ( 12/03/10 )