So much for the city of Brotherly Love

Perhaps they should rename Philadelphia the city of we hate law abiding gun owners. It doesn't exactly roll off the tongue, but it does fit the stated policy of the Philadelphia PD.

They plan to assume that all people who carry openly are common criminals until proven otherwise rather than the other way around. Why not take the current activity or demeanor of the law abiding citizen into consideration? How many common criminals have you ever heard of that even bother to use holsters much less carry a gun openly? Why not use common sense? It is evident to me that there is not much common sense nor brotherly love coming from the Top Brass of the Philadelphia PD.

Listen to the full details on what happened to Mark Fiorino. Here is part two of the story. Here is the audio of the full incident - be aware that the officer uses a lot of inappropriate language, so do not listen to this with any children in the room. Instead of an apology, the Philadelphia PD says to expect more of the same. Reprehensible. Disgusting. The top Brass at the Philadelphia PD should be ashamed of themselves.

H/T to Mark Walters who will be discussing this story this afternoon on Armed American Radio - don't miss it, always a great program.

JPFO: No Guns for Negroes

Excellent documentary by the Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership about the racist roots of gun control titled No Guns for Negroes:



Part 2

It is also available for free download or online viewing in other formats.

Chicago: Defenseless Victims Caught on Tape

In Chicago there are more than 10,000 surveillance cameras invading the privacy of defenseless victims unfortunate enough to live there, but I doubt the cameras provide much comfort to the victims of the violent crimes. Sure, the captured video makes nice footage for the nine o'clock news, and if we're lucky, it might even make it easier to find the perpetrator after the crime has already been committed, but I doubt either of those benefits provide much comfort to the defenseless victims of crime, especially for those who fail to survive the incident.

Once the McDonald vs Chicago Case rules later this summer to incorporate the 2nd Amendment as restricting State and local governments from violating our protected right to keep and bear arms for our own self defense, things should begin to look up for my disarmed friends who live there and in other gun-ban cities. Until then, all they have available is the comfort of knowing that if they are unfortunate enough to become a victim of crime, they could also be a star on the nine o'clock news.

Rivoli Revue: USS of A

Ron and Kay Rivoli of Rivoli Revue have a number of great music videos. This one is called USS of A. One of the lines in the song is "we better stand together one & all or our constitution is gonna fall" - I couldn't agree more!

Officer Says: "It Aint [America] No More"

In response to question: "This used to be America!" a Police Officer says: "It ain't no more" and threatens: "I can charge you with whatever I want to charge you with"

BATFE Steps on the States with Federal Boots

The ATF commonly known as Batty BATFE (primarily a group of power hungry Jack Booted Thugs whom no longer find it satisfying to go after criminals so they now waste our tax Dollars persecuting law abiding citizens), has stated in a letter to Federal Firearms Licensees that it intends to continue to ignore the Constitution & State Sovereignty. Their move was in response to multiple States which passed legislation this year stating what should be obvious which is that the Federal Government has absolutely NO POWER NOR AUTHORITY granted to it to regulate firearms that do not participate in Interstate Commerce, such as firearms fully manufactured within a given State marked for sale only to residents of that State.

Unfortunately this is no surprise for me, simply yet another exhibit of disrespect by the ATF for the protections built into the Constitution.

IA: Iowa National Guard Training in Arcadia Called Off

The National Guard training exercise that had been scheduled to take place in the city of Arcadia Iowa, has been called off. The National Guard claims that the decision to cancel was due to troop evaluation, but I imagine it had more to do with public outcry.

SWAT Teams Swat Innocent Victims

I guess SWAT teams are the only teams swatty enough to swat innocent victims of prank calls.

AZ: Get Rid of the Speed Cameras!

Governor Napolitano last year used an Executive Order to load the Arizona highways with speed cameras, which is a major violation of individual Freedom & Privacy, not to mention the safety hazards they create. Luckily we have a few options at our disposal to dispose of them post haste which I'll share in a moment.

The speed cameras cause dangerous road conditions in multiple ways. First of all they cause people to drive excessively slow for conditions, often slamming on their brakes or driving 5 to 15 miles BELOW the speed limit. Having such huge variations in traffic speeds can cause accidents. To throw alcohol on the fire, the flash at night is so intensely bright that it blinds dozens of motorists who then have to try to stay on the road while blind without crashing before their eyes can readjust to the darkness.

They are also an invasion of privacy. The car is an extension of the home, and people have a reasonable expectation that they can travel without having their photo taken by Uncle Sam. How many people drive with their hair a mess or in their scroungy clothes thinking nobody they know will see them? Nobody wants their photo taken on a bad hair day or while in their PJ's.

Add to that what we've all seen in the movies - a Federal agent, a Terrorist, or a paid spy accesses government databases to track down a particular car based on computer recognition of a license plate number. I'm not saying that the technology to utilize existing speed & red light running cameras for this purpose is widely adopted yet, but text recognition technology does exist. For example I know that the police already have the capability to drive through a parking lot or down a freeway & scan all of the license plates to look for anything of interest to them. The only thing required is the computer horsepower to chew through all the available raw video which at the present rate of technological advancements couldn't be far away if it isn't already in use.

There are at least 3 ways we can work to get rid of this government intrusion:

1. Ask Jan Brewer to make the removal of the cameras her first order of business once she becomes our Governor.
2. Sign the petition to put it up for a vote to the people - see event listings at camerafraud.com.
3. Contact your Arizona Senator & House Representatives to ask them to support Representative Sam Crump's bill HB2106 to ban the cameras on all Freeways & Highways in AZ.
   

More here on the petition to bring it up for a vote. More here on the legislation.

If you've already been flashed, you may find the book Smile for the Speed Camera:Photo Radar Exposed by Susan Kaylar helpful.

Update 1: A reader contacted me about a product called the Loover. Looks like an interesting way to assert privacy from the cameras on poles while still keeping the plate clearly visible from all sides for Police Officers in vehicles. I have not yet tried the product but it may be worth a look as a temporary privacy measure until we get rid of the cameras.

Today I participated in the west side camerafraud.com sign waving & signature gathering event. It was a lot of fun to see how much support we had, people honking, giving a thumbs up, and asking where they can go to sign the petition. Chanel 3 news did a story on the event. If like myself you'd like to see the cameras go, consider signing up to participate in a future camerafraud.com event.

Update 2: Cameras make mistakes, and assume you're guilty until you prove yourself innocent.

Update 3: Minnesota Camera Ticket Victims Refunded 2.6 Million for lack of due process! Excerpt from the Minnesota Supreme Court Decision:

The court also struck down the "rebutable presumption" doctrine that lies at the heart of every civil photo enforcement ordinance across the country.

"The problem with the presumption that the owner was the driver is that it eliminates the presumption of innocence and shifts the burden of proof from that required by the rules of criminal procedure," the court concluded. "Therefore the ordinance provides less procedural protection to a person charged with an ordinance violation than is provided to a person charged with a violation of the Act. Accordingly, the ordinance conflicts with the Act and is invalid."

Update 4: American Traffic Systems (ATS) Scamera Employee threatens to send 2 bogus speeding citations if citizen doesn't "respect" his so-called authority!

Update 5: HB2106, which would ban speed cameras on all of Arizona's highways is being heard in the Arizona Legislature Transportation Committee on Thursday, January 22nd, at 9am. The hearing will be in Hearing Room #3 at the Arizona House of Representatives. If you would like to come to the hearing in person, please do so. Furthermore, your testimony in support of the bill would be welcome.

If you cannot attend in person, you should submit your testimony via the Request to Speak system: http://alistrack.azle...

You can also watch the proceedings via the Internet. Simply go to http://www.azleg.gov... and click on the "Live Proceedings" next to the camera. On the next page you should click on "Hearing Room 3".

Update 6: An Arizona Judge has thrown out over 300 photo tickets as unconstitutional. We just need the State to challenge his decision for it to go up to the next level before his decision would apply State wide. Apparently they're afraid to, with good reason.

Update 7: Although HB2106 made it through committee the House leadership refused to allow the bill to go to the floor for a vote, thus killing the bill.