Ron Paul: Shut Down Unconstitutional Department of Homeland Security

Freda Art

By Ron Paul

Late Friday night, Congress passed legislation funding the Department of Homeland Security for one week. This vote followed weeks of debate over efforts to attach a prohibition on funding President Obama’s executive order granting amnesty to certain illegal immigrants to the Homeland Security funding bill.

Despite the heated rhetoric from both sides, no one seriously believes that Congress will allow Homeland Security funding to lapse. Most in Congress believe that, without the Department of Homeland Security, Americans would be left unprotected from terrorists and natural disasters. As with most areas of bipartisan agreement, the truth is the exact opposite of the DC consensus. The American people would be much better off if Congress transferred the few constitutional functions performed by Homeland Security to other parts of the government and then shut down the rest of the department.

Many Americans associate Homeland Security with the color–coded terrorist warning system and the “if you see something, say something" public relations campaign. These programs were designed to inspire public confidence in the department, but instead they inspired public ridicule.

10 reasons why the DHS shutdown is the best thing that will never happen

Alissa Kokkins

With the House set to debate a Department of Homeland Security funding bill to avert the looming DHS shutdown today, mainstream media is doing its usual thing with the DHS narrative. Story after story about the DHS shutdown from mainstream media is angled with doom and drama. Gasp! If DHS shuts down, whatever shall we do? Who is to blame? Democrats or Republicans? As usual, the most important point is being overlooked by MSM:

A DHS shutdown would be fucking awesome! Let’s face it, there has been nothing but ++fascism and civil liberty abuses since DHS was founded on November 25, 2002. Packaged on the heels of the Patriot Act and Bush’s weapons of mass destruction lies about Iraq, the Department of Homeland Security is a central hub for some of America’s most inadequate and tyrannical government agencies.

So let’s indulge and take a look at why the looming DHS shutdown is the best thing that will never happen (at least not voluntarily), shall we?

As DHS shutdown looms, Jeh Johnson Keeps Fear Alive With Terror Warning To Mall of America Customers

Doug Owen

Just as the DHS congressional Feb 27th budget deadline and possible shutdown nears, a conveniently timed new domestic terror alert was issued today by Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson. Two weeks ago Jeh Johnson also warned that a lapse in funding would cause a “terrible disruption,” and “A shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security in these times is frankly too bitter to contemplate, but we have to contemplate it.”

Could this be another politically motivated scare tactic being used against the US Congress and the American people? 

Watch What You Buy: DHS to Guide Retailers in Spotting Terrorists

DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson

Paul Lawrance 

Homeland Security Secretary, Jeh Johnson, announced that the Department of Homeland Security will be giving retailers guidance on how to spot a potential terrorist based on what a customer buys. The Washington Times reports: 

While saying the government cannot prohibit sales of some everyday materials, Mr. Johnson said retailers should be trained to look for anyone who buys a lot from what he described as a “long list of materials that could be used as explosive precursors.” 

He said it was an extension of the “If you see something, say something” campaign launched by his predecessor, former Secretary Janet Napolitano, which tries to enlist average Americans to be aware of their immediate environment. 

“We can’t and we shouldn’t prohibit the sale of a pressure cooker. We can sensitize retail businesses to be on guard for suspicious behavior by those who buy this kind of stuff,” Mr. Johnson said during a question-and-answer session after a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Homeland Security Enlists Clergy to Quell Public Unrest in Ferguson Missouri

Greater St. Mark's Church has seen a lot of cops lately and they haven't come by to pray.

As evidenced by the following video, Clergy Response Teams were deployed by Homeland Security to quell public unrest during the declared "state of emergency"in Ferguson Missouri this week.



For the third time since the police slaying of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, St. Louis County police raided the Greater St. Mark Church property Wednesday. Church leaders have allowed community activists to use the gymnasium of an abandoned private school on church property as a first aid station for treatment of people injured by tear gas in protests against the shooting of Brown. People could also get food and water there, and community activists used it to plan protest strategy.  

But all that apparently made it a special target for the cops whom one would think have enough on their plates in Ferguson not to be harassing a humanitarian operation.

VIOLENCE IN FERGUSON PROVOCATEURED BY FBI AND DHS

Watershed event by government to impose further restrictions on liberty

by KURT NIMMO | INFOWARS.COM

Last week Fox News reported the FBI was concerned members of the New Black Panthers are in Ferguson, Missouri to advocate and promote violence against police.

The report filed on August 13 cited an alert issued by the St. Louis Division of the FBI. It claimed the National Chief of Staff of the New Black Panther Party, Chawn Kweli, and others have traveled to Ferguson to exploit the protests in response to the shooting of Michael Brown.

Kweli had previously put a bounty on the head of George Zimmerman, who was acquitted in 2013 of murdering Trayvon Martin.

Another New Black Panther Party member, King Samir Shabazz, has called for killing white babies. He was named in a civil suit filed by the Department of Justice in 2009 alleging violations of the Voting Rights Act after Shabazz and another New Black Panther Party member brandished weapons at a polling place in Philadelphia.

The FBI alert did not prompt action by the Justice Department or the Obama administration.

DHS Infiltrated New Black Panthers

The FBI’s role in producing the vast majority of terror plots in the United States is well-known.

“Over the years, FBI provocateurs have repeatedly urged and initiated violent acts, including forceful disruptions of meetings and demonstrations, attacks on police, bombings, and so on, following an old strategy of Tsarist police director TC Zubatov: ‘We shall provoke you to acts of terror and then crush you,’” explains the authors of COINTELPRO: The Untold American Story.

No habeas corpus in Ferguson: New Black Panthers call for murder of Officer Darren Wilson.

In addition to the probability of provocation by the FBI, the journalist Dave Hodges reports the Department of Homeland Security may be involved in inciting violence.

“In the past five days I have been contacted, via one of my most trusted sources, a member of DHS who is opposed to the events and DHS involvement in Ferguson, Missouri,” Hodges wrote on August 15. “This source stated that DHS is running the Ferguson Police Department and their actions are designed to antagonize and to provoke the locals to violence. He further stated that he believed that the ultimate goal is to inflame the local citizens to such a point martial law will be declared.”

The DHS, according to the source cited by Hodges, has inserted agents provocateurs within the New Black Panthers. The police reaction to the protests, he notes, resemble procedures put in place by the DHS, Northcom and the federalized National Guard:

DHS Is Employing Agent Provocateurs and Are Behind the Events In Ferguson

by Dave Hodges

What the mainstream media is not reporting is beginning to leak out from local citizens in St. Louis and from an informant from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) who are all telling a different story that the one you are seeing on Fox, CNN and CBS. First, the locals are reporting that the rioting has spread far beyond the Ferguson city limits. Rioting is taking place as far away as St. Charles which is located approximately 20 miles away from Ferguson. Second, more people are becoming aware that the police chief of Ferguson, Thomas Jackson, is not in control of his own police force as he has relinquished control to DHS.

DHS Is Fanning the Flames of Violence

In the past five days I have been contacted, via one of my most trusted sources, a member of DHS who is opposed to the events and DHS involvement in Ferguson, Missouri. This source stated that DHS is running the Ferguson Police Department and their actions are designed to antagonize and to provoke the locals to violence. He further stated that he believed that the ultimate goal is to inflame the local citizens to such a point martial law will be declared.

In even a more shocking revelation, this DHS source stated that the rioting and looting which followed the shooting death of 18 year old, Michael Brown, was encouraged and exacerbated by undercover DHS agents posing as members of the Black Panthers.

Lending support to this latest accusation of DHS complicity in the rioting was the behavior of the Ferguson Police Department during the looting. During the civil unrest, the behavior of the Ferguson Police was to simply create a perimeter around the looting and allow it to continue. This violates every tenet of law enforcement. It more resembles quarantine procedures practiced by DHS, Northcom and the National Guard. The police should have moved to intervene to stop the looting and prevent the spread of violence. If the situation was beyond the control of the police, then the National Guard should have been brought in. Given the revelation of the DHS source, it seems plausible that his story of wanting the violence to escalate appears to be the case.

I SEE SOMETHING – MARINE COLONEL WARNS OF TAKEOVER

by COL PETE MARTINO USMCR (RET.) | INFOWARS.COM

Homeland Security’s “See Something, Say Something” campaign motivated me to say something. Since that’s the purpose of this tax payer funded behavior modification program, consider this a rare government success story.

Homeland Security Calls Bitcoin an "Emerging Threat"

Eric Blair


The popularity of the digital currency Bitcoin is exploding. Today's price spiked over $600, nearly double what is was just over a week ago. It seems the U.S. government now wants into the party.

Today several federal agencies weighed in on the decentralized currency. While most agencies acknowledged its legitimate uses, the Department of Homeland Security referred to Bitcoin as an emerging threat.

In a letter to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, DHS wrote that they have "been actively investigating the emerging threat and criminal exploitation of virtual currency systems that further transnational criminal operations."

DHS blamed "anonymity in cyberspace" and called for an aggressive posture to deal with bitcoin and other crypto-currencies.

DHS Perfecting Facial Recognition System "BOSS"

Youtube

The Department of Homeland Security's latest surveillance tool is the Biometric Optical Surveillance System, or BOSS, and consists of two cameras that are capable of taking stereoscopic images of people's faces. Facial recognition technology matches the 3-D pictures captured and compares them to images stored in the system's database, like driver's license photos.

Enter your email address to subscribe to our newsletter:


Delivered by FeedBurner

Be the Change! Share this using the tools below.

NH Police View Peaceful Libertarian and Occupy Activists as Terrorists

Lenco BearCat - Wiki image

Activist Post

Police in Concord, New Hampshire have applied for a grant to acquire a $258,000 armored vehicle from the DHS to combat domestic terrorism.

According to their application, they cited "active threats" from domestic "terror" groups like Free State Project and Occupy New Hampshire as the primary reason for requiring this military equipment.

New Hampshire's Union Leader newspaper reports:

In its grant application to DHS, the police department said New Hampshire's experience with terrorism "slants primarily towards the domestic type," and said "the threat is real and here." 

"Groups such as the Sovereign Citizens, Free Staters and Occupy New Hampshire are active and present daily challenges," the application stated. In addition to organized groups, it cited "several homegrown clusters that are anti-government and pose problems for law enforcement agencies."

DHS Head Janet Napolitano Resigns! Lieberman Tops List Of Replacements

Youtube


Enter your email address to subscribe to our newsletter:


Delivered by FeedBurner

Be the Change! Share this using the tools below.

Orwellian State? Don’t worry – Big Sis says the DHS is not “going willy-nilly and using any kind of data that we can gather”

Daisy Luther

We can all rest a little easier now.  Janet Napolitano, head of the Department of Homeland Gestapo Security has said that fears over extreme government surveillance are overblown. There is no Orwellian state, no extreme surveillance, and we can all go back to watching Dancing with the Stars now.

I think people have gotten the idea that there’s an Orwellian state out there that somehow we’re operating in. That’s far from the case… There are lots of protections built into the system… No one should believe that we are simply going willy-nilly and using any kind of data that we can gather… I think we need to do a better job of explaining to the American people exactly what is kept, what are the real restrictions on how—I’m just talking now for DHS, Department of Homeland Security–how we use it, how long we can keep it, how we share it, all those thing.” (source)

What is the Orwellian state?

Congressman Tweets: “I Saw IRS Agents Training With AR-15's” At DHS Facility

Kimberly Paxton

The IRS has recently been under the microscope for targeting conservative groups with audits, fines, and other “special attention.” However, a Congressman from South Carolina observed something the puts a whole new spin on the word “target” - he witnessed IRS agents training with AR-15s at the Department of Homeland Security.

Investment Watch Blog broke the story with captures of Rep. Jeff Duncan’s (R-S.C.) tweets:



Later he added:

Americans Searched on a Hunch? DHS Reaffirms Broad Power

Daniel Jackson

The Department of Homeland Security has reaffirmed their belief that they have the power to conduct unwarranted electronic surveillance on American citizens returning to the country, based on nothing more than a hunch.

The data taken from electronic devices such as smartphones and laptops can then be copied and saved by Homeland Security.

Despite widespread outrage from civil liberties groups such as the ACLU, Homeland Security's own internal study shows that they plan to continue the practice and are using scary words such as terrorism and child pornography to justify it.

DHS wastes billions of taxpayers' money in the so-called fight against terrorism

Dylan Murphy

Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 Congress passed legislation that created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Its mission was simple to protect the United States from any future terrorist attacks.

It now employs over 240,000 people to carry out five core security missions. Number one is to prevent terrorism and enhance security. This is closely followed by managing US borders and administering immigration law to safeguarding cyberspace and ensuring resilience to natural disasters.

The Department of Homeland Security has become the third largest Federal department bringing together 22 different Federal agencies and has a huge billion dollar budget.

Recent events have cast shadows over the Department of Homeland Security and suggest that the third largest Federal department is not fit for purpose. One large shadow over the DHS is the damning report issued by Senator Tom Coburn in December 2012 Safety At Any Price: Assessing the Impact of Homeland Security Spending in US Cities. Dr. Coburn conducted a year-long investigation into how the DHS spends its billion dollar budget. It is a devastating indictment of the organization's leadership.

Obama Expands Militarization of Police

Youtube

Among items transferred to local law enforcement agencies have been assault rifles and grenade launchers, even Blackhawk helicopters and .50 caliber machine guns; In fiscal year 2011 alone, the Pentagon transferred almost $500 million worth of materials to domestic law enforcement -- near double the previous year's total.


Subscribe to The Real News
TheRealNews.com
Enter your email address to subscribe to our newsletter:


Delivered by FeedBurner

Be the Change! Share this using the tools below.

Energy Grid Vulnerable to Hacker Groups, Says DHS and DoE

Susanne Posel, Contributor

The SuperBowl, hosted in New Orleans, Louisiana experienced a total blackout wherein the 26,000 LED lights surrounding the exterior of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome went dark. Although the LED lights allocated no more energy that the amount needed to light a small home, the system failed.

Mainstream media is decrying about “complex interlocking systems” that make up the networks that control our utilities infrastructure.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu said the blackout was “an unfortunate moment in what has been an otherwise shining Super Bowl week for the city of New Orleans.”

Entergy, the power corporation in Louisiana released a statement concerning the blackout. They said:

Shortly after the beginning of the second half of the Super Bowl in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, a piece of equipment that is designed to monitor electrical load sensed an abnormality in the system. Once the issue was detected, the sensing equipment operated as designed and opened a breaker, causing power to be partially cut to the Superdome in order to isolate the issue.

Two weeks ago, hackers breached the Department of Energy (DoE) computers to siphon personal information from employees. DoE officials reported the incident to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) who stated that the hackers used “sophisticated” attacks to steal “personally identifiable information” digital data, yet could have more sinister plans in the future should access be gained again.

DHS wastes your money and they don’t care

James Smith, Contributor

According to one study, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) wastes taxpayer dollars like they are going out of style. Clink on the links in the previous sentence to learn more about past wastes.

The wastes that are spoken of in this article come from books, yes books, that the DHS deems necessary for students of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center should have. But they should have them at your  expense, not the agency that sent them. They could have visited Amazon.com and saved over 600 bucks of yourmoney, but they didn’t.

They know better and yet they refuse to be frugal with such a precious resource. Below you will find the book that FLETC demands of the students, and their costs:

DHS/ICE is over-gunned and over-manned

image source

James Smith, Contributor

In trying to make sense of the ammunition purchases, which DHS/ICE canceled the orders for blank .308 rounds. 25,000 rounds, by the way, I decided to match apples to apples for fairness.

What I found fails the smell test of common sense and reason. But we are talking about the largest grab of brass and lead of all time by a man who only knows how a weapon fires from his time in “Pock-Is-Stan”.

Big Sis has requested another 120,000,000 rounds of .40 S&W ammunition. And, this time, it is to be CLEARLY used and segregated from duty ammunition. How clearly marked? From the RFI :

• Can company produce ammunition with cartridge cases that are uniquely colored to ready distinguish them from DHS duty ammunition.
• Can company produce individual packaging boxes uniquely colored to ready distinguish them from DHS duty ammunition.
• Can company produce training ammunition capable of accuracy comparable to current duty ammunition standards?
• Can company manufacturer 30 million rounds of this training ammunition annually?

Remember, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is the largest investigative agency in the Department of Homeland Security, and is responsible for enforcing the nation’s immigration and customs laws. ICE has more than 20,000 employees working in 400 offices in the U.S. and around the world.