Just Another Day in Police State USA!

For those of you who still don't get it (not that you ever will), here are 3 more examples of how this country has morphed into a police state. (Oops -- guess I'd better watch out -- I might be subpoenad and gag-ordered like the poeple in the first story were, especially since I write under my own name all over the blabbosphere and have written publicly, many times, that I wish I believed in Hell so I could hope certain people, such as John Pistole and Dick Cheney, would rot there.) Land of the Free my ass. For your delectation:

How the Feds Asked Me to Rat Out Commenters

Reason.com, the website I edit, was recently commanded by the feds to provide information on a few commenters and not discuss it. Here’s why we’re speaking out.

by Nick Gillespie

Is there anything more likely to make you shit your pants out of a mix of fear and anger than getting a federal subpoena out of the blue?

Well, yes, there is: getting a gag order that prohibits you from speaking publicly about that subpoena and even the gag order itself. Talk about feeling isolated and cast adrift in the home of the free. You can’t even respond honestly when someone asks, “Are you under a court order not to speak?" . . . .

AND:

Pentagon rewrites ‘Law of War’ declaring ‘belligerent’ journalists as legitimate targets

AND:

Protest Is the New Terror: How U.S. Law Enforcement Is Working to Criminalize Dissent

Give to TSA Watch

The fundraising drive at TSA Watch has been stuck at $6,921 for weeks. The TSA is sexually assaulting people at airports in this country every day. We and many other organizations have been documenting it for years. I don't know what else people need to know in order to care.

Oh, wait a minute -- for some people, getting robbed is more serious than getting sexually assaulted. Okay, fine. The TSA is robbing people at airports in this country every day. 

Chris Hedges: The Wages of Rebellion Part 2

There are so many videos on YouTube of speeches by the great Chris Hedges. You can have a field day watching them. I feel honored that I've met Hedges and broken bread with him several times. He is one of the most upstanding, virtuous people I have ever met. He is a poet, a philosopher, a visionary, a historian, a Cassandra for our age. 

His books are as infuriating as they are inspiring. And if you don't read his weekly column at Truthdig or Nation of Change or Truthout -- well, put the frigging New York Times and Washington Post aside once in a while and read somebody with integrity, somebody who doesn't suck up to power, who is unafraid to tell the unvarnished truth. If you have time to read a mainstream newspaper or watch network TV, you have time to read Hedges. The following quote comes about 3:30 into the clip:

"How do you revolt?
". . . I want people to understand when you seriously revolt what the state does to you.
". . . revolt itself is a moral imperative. That asking the question as to whether it can succeed is the wrong question. Revolt is not finally about what we achieve . . . revolt is about what we become. 
". . . I don't fight fascists because finally I believe that I will win. I fight fascists because they are fascists."

Baltimore by Tom Tomorrow

Baltimore Helping Baltimore

. . . In Pigtown, where looters struck at least four businesses, an online fundraiser raised more than $1,300 in four days, and a spring cleanup last weekend — which typically has a turnout of about a dozen people — drew more than 100 volunteers, said Ben Hyman, executive director of Pigtown Main Street. The four businesses affected in his organization's domain have all reopened, he said.
"The support for me was so overwhelming I couldn't believe it," said Fennoy, who opened the restaurant in 2007. "I just wish all areas would lend helping hands like those that have lent helping hands to me."

This is what Baltimore does. This is what any city would do. Neighbors helping neighbors. I'm not surprised CVS is rebuilding here. 
Needless to say, those who advocate burning, looting, and rioting, whether in person or in hiding behind their computer screens, aren't the ones coming out to help clean up and rebuild. Gee, I'm shocked.

Mr. Fish on the Baltimore Protests and Riots

Once again, the great Mr. Fish:

Looters of America

It was a calm day and night in Charm City yesterday. That doesn't mean there were no protests -- there were. Good, disciplined, strong protests. But there was no repeat of this past Monday night with burnings and lootings and violence and mayhem. The National Guard is still here, and the curfew is still in effect, though many businesses, especially bars and restaurants have appealed to the city to lift the curfew. So far, that's not happening. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has said that she's not averse to lifting it early if conditions warrant it. Meanwhile, there's plenty of looting going on elsewhere: 

More Ways You Can Help Baltimore

St. Peter Claver /St. Pius V church on N. Freemont Ave. as food is gathered to be given out to people in the Sandtown community of West Baltimore. Photo by Lloyd Fox/The Baltimore Sun.

First of all, another shout-out to the reporters and photographers of the Baltimore Sun, who have been doing such an impressive job of covering the protests and riots (two different things, by the way). Thank you, thank you, thank you. I was going to send you a bouquet of flowers but decided a better use of that money is for some of the worthy groups/causes outlined in these two articles -- I hope other people will be encouraged to donate as well:

How to help: donation and volunteer opportunities in the aftermath of riots

Heaps of donations for first responders, residents affected by riots

You Can Help Baltimore Neighborhoods

From Pamela Wood of the Baltimore Sun:

The state's Department of Human Resources set up a hotline for people in Baltimore needing help with food, emergency assistance, or concerns for children or the elderly. 

Dancing, Singing, Chanting, Drumming PEACEFUL Protests in Baltimore Now

(Photo by Amy Davis, Baltimore Sun) 

I'm writing this on Tuesday, April 28th, at 7:45 pm (and yes, I know the night is young, and things could still change). There are several huge, celebratory, multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-age, peaceful protests going on in Baltimore now. Singing, dancing, chanting, drumming, chess-playing, roller-skating, voter registration, and those great, vibrant, colorful, gotta-see-em-to-believe-em proud black marching bands. And signs with Freddie Gray's face, and chants of "Black Lives Matter! White Lives Matter! Brown Lives Matter! All Lives Matter!"

From the Baltimore Sun's excellent, indispensable Livefeed -- thank you, Sun reporters! -- check it out: 

TSA Watch – Start Up Funding

A new organization to fight the TSA is starting up, and you can help. 

Freak, thanks to my friend litbrit

Thanks to my great friend litbrit. And she says that the generator, if you want to make your own, is here.

DHS Keeping A List, Checking It Twice

It's pretty common these days to have your resumé/curriculum vitae publicly available on a website. Most people use LinkedIn, which I can't abide (it plunders your private email account, sends invitations without your knowledge to everybody under the sun to "link" to you, pretends to get you jobs, and other things not worth going into), so I use a site called Brand Yourself instead. 

My profile there contains my resumé, the briefest of biographical info, and a contact link. It's also more visually appealing than LinkedIn, which, if you appreciate aesthetics, is a plus. 

Howard Zinn Now and Forever

Another namby-pamby Congressional response to TSA abuse

As we've been reporting here for years, many of us have used all sorts of methods to fight TSA abuse. 

John Brennan ordered to pay $500 for TSA protest

We have an update on the case of John Brennan, the man who stripped naked at a TSA checkpoint in April of 2012. We first wrote about Brennan here. We then providesd updates here, where he said he wanted a trial, and here, where he was found Not Guilty of "public indecency."