Sen. Rand Paul: "I think we have too many armed federal agencies"

Amen. Why in the world does the US Food and Drug Administration need armed agents for? To bust Amish natural milk sellers? The fewer armed feds there are, the better.

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Canadian woman detained & strip-searched by feds for not declaring pint of raspberries when entering US via Ambassador Bridge: Hey, it's Detroit. And that's how we roll! Nah. The feds act that way everywhere and esp. so if you show them any attitude or get snarly. These guys are federal officers after all who are not gonna be dissed or out done by those TSA weenies. Word to the wise.

Both ends of this stick are dirty: Jackson county taxpayers to pay for accused judge's legal bills. The first $100,000 anyway. The county's insurance carrier picks it up after that.

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Living in the Age of Conspiracy Charges - Infoshop News (crimethinc)

Sign of the times...

Detroit lawyer in Hutaree militia case sued for allegedly defaulting on student loan
Just a coincidence I'm sure. It has nothing to due with his great effectiveness as a lawyer or that he really needs to be preparing for the big trial rather than this shit. Go figure? Via Ann Arbor.com

Sign of the Times...

Why do militia members, social justice activists, and about everybody else who is alienated from the government hate, fear and loathe the police, feds, courts and the rest of the repression apparatus?

Well, here's why: Remember Mark Koernke? A militia activist from the 1990's AKA "Mark from Michigan". His name came up at the Hutaree Militia bail hearings today and while reading a Detroit News article about the hearing it is mentioned (in re Koernke) that a retired FBI agent made the crack about how Koernke who was near a bank robbery in 2000 (but not involved in the robbery in any way), ended up going to prison for seven years as the result of it. To wit:

"Retired FBI Special Agent Greg Stejskal said he was responding to a Dexter bank robbery in 2000 when Koernke led police on a high-speed chase during which he tried to ram an officer with his vehicle.

Koernke was not involved in the bank robbery, Stejskal said. He was parked outside the bank waiting for his son to make a deposit but when police pulled up to respond to the robbery, he took off. 'He ended up doing more time than the bank robber,' Stejskal said."

Funny huh? Ex-agent Stejskal seems to thinks so.

Just like Randy Weaver, who was also exonerated of all the original charges against him as a result of the Ruby Ridge incident and collected a multi-million damage judgement against the FBI, but who still ended up serving 18 months in prison, got shot through the chest, and had his son and wife shot dead by the FBI. Due Process and other such "protections" as our legal system guarantees doesn't seem to matter that much under those circumstances though do they? That's why most of the folks that wind up in the feds' cross-hairs tend to plead out rather than face a basketball score style prison sentence if they don't. Because life is short and it's better than getting shot.

Sign of the Times...

I was reading the latest revelations from the U.S. Attorney's office in re their case against the Hutaree 8. And my conclusion? Sheesh, what a crock. If what the feds have released so far constitutes their case for sedition then some if not all of these defendants will walk, assuming of course they don't get so intimidated by the threats of lengthy prison terms they plead out in exchange for leniency.

This is nothing. Hating the government is as old and commonplace as American society itself. So, good luck with that feds. You may end up with a Randy Weaver/Ruby Ridge acquittal on your hands unless you get a very gullible jury or the defense team just blows it utterly. My opinion as things stand now.

Sign of the Times...

Things are going pretty bad for militia types when they get narked on by members of other militia groups. And no this was not a Randy Weaver style entrapment operation either. The rival militia members called the the FBI. What solidarity, eh?

Sign of the Times...

Feds use fear of militias, Islamist terror groups for political advantage and as a means of control - Detroit News (George Hunter)

The story includes the usual quotes from the Southern Poverty Law Center, academics, police and the usual federal alphabet soup of law enforcers who all claim that Michigan is awash in "homegrown terror groups" saying there are 47 of them out there in total. So watch your neighbors, strangers, co-workers, and immigrants folks and be sure to report them to the authorities just in case they're terrorists.

And just to make the whole government approved formulaic news story complete newsman Hunter rehashes the books, DVDs and other reputed terrorist paraphernalia`just for good measure. Hunter makes sure to include that "evidence" seized included "...DVDs titled 'Waco' at the home of alleged Hutaree leader David Stone Sr., along with copies of the novel 'The Turner Diaries' and a book of Adolf Hitler's speeches at the Indiana home of defendant Thomas Piatek, according to court records made public last week." Hey, thanks for that intel George, go get your nugs from Janet Napolitano.

Do we look through the book shelves of everyone the government arrests? Maybe we should from now on. The Detroit News should now include that info in every crime story they publish. Seems fair to me.

Sign of the Times...

Ann Arbor.com has a pretty good list of the items seized from the Hutaree Militia arrestees. Taking firearms, ammunition, knives, swords and other obvious weapons I can see. Illegal items like drugs I can see too. But what about all this other stuff? Like books about Nazis and Hitler. Computers, cameras, uniforms, books about military subjects. None of that stuff is illegal by the way. So why is it noted? Why was it seized? In order to parade it all out in front of the media in order to scare and alarm and prejudice the public who will ultimately be the jury for these defendants is my hunch.

Think I'm blowing smoke here? Okay dear reader, consider this mind experiment. Think about your own home. How would you like it if federal agents and cops went through all of your drawers, garage, basement, attic and storage areas and seized for public display all of your DVDs, video tapes, books. magazines, private photos, computer hard-drives and printed out a list of every website you've ever visited?

And so-called "bomb making materials"? I'll bet a reasonably bright individual could build a simple bomb out of ordinary and typical household items commonly found in everybody's kitchen or garage. Could we cobble all that stuff together and say you had "bomb-making materials" in your house? Yes indeed. Do you have a gun or knife? Who did you plan to kill with it? See what I mean? This whole thing is BS. The gov should save these displays for presentation in a court of law where the defendant's legal counsel is present to give it some context. But don't bet on it.

Sign of the Times...

The Detroit News is reporting that in addition to taking over three counties, assassinating the entire Hudson, Michigan police force, and thereby causing Jesus to return, the Hutaree Militia (all nine of them) also offered to jail-break a confined bomb-making ex-felon too! Wow.

The more the feds reveal their case the more absurd this whole conspiracy thing seems. Leaving aside the apocalyptic return of the deity, accomplishing everything on the ever increasing list the US Attorney's office is providing the media is starting to strain credulity. And keep in mind when you hear all this stuff from the feds through the media that according to relatives the Hutaree commander-in-chief often couldn't even "keep a decent vehicle running" to get to and from work too. And we've already seen the condition of his homestead. But even so, we are told, he/they still had the wherewithal to launch this vast conspiracy of murder, mayhem, terrorism, sedition, treason and bring about a religious apocalypse. And as the Fed's list gets longer and longer it should start to make people wonder about who is really more out of touch with reality in this case.

The feds put an informant inside the group and then recorded every outburst, empty boast, rant, rave and remark and used it to indict them all. But, as previously noted, a good prosecutor can indict a ham sandwich if need be. And whatever else federal law enforcement may be it seems to be good enough to indict these talkative and overwrought types who's principal activity seems to be running their mouths about politics and dressing up in camouflage and posing for pictures with their rifles instead of working a little harder to improve their standard of living.

Sign of the times

If you are an anti-government activist it's important that you not shoot your mouth off to undercover federal agents even if you are just blowing smoke. Even if what you are saying is constitutionally protected political speech. But be that as it may, the US attorney's office in Detroit is making as much adverse information available as possible to the media in order to thoroughly poison the potential jury pool against the so-called Hutaree militia group. And as for any due process rights, well as some famous prosecutor once bragged that he could get a grand jury to "indict a ham sandwich" if he wanted to.
The trouble with this whole case is that the feds seem to have facilitated and encouraged these guys every step of the way. I just hope their lawyers make that fact clear to the jury that is gonna try this case, and that it helps. Angry talk isn't the same as terrorism.

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No bail for the Hutaree 8.

They get to languish in prison until their trial. See, the DA presented the magistrate with "disturbing information". WTF that would be wasn't disclosed. This procedure is more like a star-chamber proceeding than a judicial process in a civilized nation. Whether you think they're religious nuts or no, they deserve and are entitled to every ounce of protection that basic human decency and American law and tradition bestows on us all.

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Guns, ammo and food found in homes of Hutaree 8 defendants say prosecutors. OMG! You can always tell when the DA's and the cops are trying to poison the well against controversial defendants; they release photos of their guns and/or press releases of items (to include books, magazines, emails, and etc.) that tend to prejudice the public against them. An old, old trick. Shame on the feds for doing it too. It kind of makes me wonder why if their case is so strong they need to even do it all, eh?

And why we're at it can we get list of all the web browsing, emails, books, magazines DVDs, letters, cell phone calls, credit reports, Visa bills, and medicine cabinet contents of of all the prosecutors, federal agents, cops and all their paid snitches involved in this case released as well? Seems fair to me.

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Feds had undercover agent inside Hutaree 9 group say the Associated Press & Ann Arbor.com.

Based on what the news stories say the Feds don't seem to have much else except for an undercover snitch and a pissed off ex-wife. So we'll see what the Feds really have (other than the Obama administration's need to find a bogeyman to scare people) in the way of evidence against them if and when this whole mess goes to trial. And despite the mass media propaganda campaign not everyone thinks this case is a slam dunk.

And, just to poison the well further, it is reported that one of Hutaree 9 may have shot a feral cat. Anyone who'd kill a wild cat in cold-blood is definitely a danger to national security, you see.

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US Department of Education taking bids for tactical shotguns - FedBizOpps.gov/

Why exactly they need firearms is left unsaid though . Hmm....