Steven Ettinger was arrested at the Asbury Boardwalk Civil Disobedience Swimsuit Party

So on Saturday I headed up to the Asbury Park Civil Disobedience Swimsuit Party, which ended up being a celebration as the 1958 ordinance was repealed a few days prior to the event.  It seems that the City Council may not have wanted the press that comes with a scantily clad protest.

The ordinance said: “No person clad in bathing attire shall be on the boardwalk or the public walks adjacent thereto.”

Since that changed, most of us expected no one would be arrested.  It seemed we were wrong.

Dave Cahill was an awesome performer.  I spoke along with Eddie Free, Danny Panzella, Garrett Fox, Chris Cantwell, and Adam Kokesh.  During Adam’s speech, he asked Steve Ettinger to show everyone his “Borat style thong”.

After Steve showed his thong, he was arrested for indecent exposure.

You can watch the ustream of the entire event here.

Here’s a video of just the arrest.

“Borat” Arrested for Swimsuit Malfunction in Asbury Park NJ

After the arrest, the people gathering were told that they were no longer allowed to use amplified sound or sing, so Dave Cahill started singing and playing his guitar to call their bluff – that was pretty awesome to watch, especially after he put on his alien mask.

Steven Ettinger has a hearing to decided whether charges will be pressed. The hearing is July 27th, 2012, at 10 am at the Asbury Park Court.  Steve has created a chipin asking for donations as he has a 9 hour trip (round trip) to get to the court.  He may need even more if he is charged as he may be looking at a $1,000 fine.

FIND THE CHIPIN HERE!

For those who couldn’t attend the event, instead of buying Steve a drink, donate a round to his chipin! I am!

Hear my account of the event!

 

Who voted YES for CISPA and Tom Carper responds to his CISPA vote (he’s planning on a yes vote)

A friend of mine, Margaret Melson, contacted Delaware Senator Tom Carper regarding his vote for CISPA  (he plans to vote yes).  What follows is his response.

Thank you for contacting me to express your concerns about the Cybersecurity Act. I appreciate hearing from you about this important issue.

As you know, the threat of a catastrophic attack on our critical information systems has grown over the past several years. The Senate Sergeant at Arms recently reported that the computer systems of the Executive Branch agencies and Congress are attacked an average of 1.8 billion times a month. Given the increased sophistication and scale of these attacks, many experts in the cyber intelligence community believe that it is not a matter of “if” a damaging attack will happen, but rather “when” it will happen. If such an attack were carried out, it could cost billions of dollars in economic damage and possibly even thousands of lives.

Unfortunately, current law has not kept pace with the threat of cyber attack. To respond to a major cyber attack in the 21 st century, Senators Joe Lieberman (I-Conn), introduced S. 2105, the Cybersecurity Act, on February 14, 2012. This legislation would direct the Department of Homeland Security to set risk-based security requirements for critical infrastructure like telecommunications networks, electric grids, and financial systems. The owners and operators of these critical infrastructure systems would collaborate with the Department of Homeland Security to develop a plan to protect against an attack and would be able to choose which protective measures ensure security without imposing an undue burden on businesses. S. 2105 has been referred to the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, on which I serve, for further review.

With that said, I have heard from a number of constituents, like you, who are concerned that the Cybersecurity Act would give unprecedented powers to the President to control the Internet. Unlike earlier versions of this legislation, however, the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 does not contain the so-called “internet kill-switch” language that raised many concerns a few years ago. Moreover, this legislation encourages a private-public partnership that shares security risk information and solutions so that, in an event of a serious cyber attack, there will be minimal interference to businesses and consumers.

Please be assured that I will continue to support reasonable measures of legislation that protect free speech while keeping our country safe from a cyber attack. Thank you again for contacting me. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future about this or other matters of importance to you.

Sincerely,

Tom Carper
United States Senator

CISPA, or the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act was passed through a surprise vote in the House on Thursday night.  The vote count was 248 ayes with 168 nays.  The bill now heads to the Senate, and if it passes there, to President Obama’s desk.  Obama will be able to sign CISPA or cancel it.

CISPA was scheduled to be voted on by the House on Friday but the House passed the bill after a number of amendments were passed.  Some of these amendments have Americans upset.  This bill will now allow the government to use private information obtained through CISPA to investigate and prosecute “cybersecurity crime”.  The definition of “cybersecurity crime” has also changed.

The new clauses define “cybersecurity crime” as any crime involving network disruption or hacking.

Many believe this is really about making people share their private information.

Find out who voted for CISPA.  Republicans Michele Bachmann and Allen West are included in the ayes.  

Juvenile rape victim incarcerated until her trial

A 17-year-old girl who is an alleged rape victim is being held in juvenile detention until her rapist’s trial.  The unidentified girl failed to appear at a preliminary hearing for the alleged rapist, Frank William Rackley.  She also failed to appear at his trial on February 28.  Prosecutors re-filed the case and a trial date has been set for April 23.

The unidentified teen is being incarcerated to ensure the man who traumatized her is convicted although Rackley’s DNA was found on her after the rape examination.

“The last thing we ever want to do is put a victim or a witness in custody, but when you have serious crimes of violence and a multiple offenses, you have to balance the protection of the community here,” Sacramento County Assistant District Attorney Albert Locher told ABCNews.com.

Rackley has a 20-year criminal history and previous arrests for rape.  Rackley is accused of three counts of rape and sexual assault.  Locher claims the teen’s testimony as a material witness is “imperative” and claims she is being detained for the public’s safety.

The unidentified girl is being held in lieu of $50,000 bail and has been in custody for over a week.

The girl’s lawyer said she will ask Brown to set her client free.  “I think it’s outrageous that the DA’s Office wants to put a rape victim – a juvenile rape victim – in custody, as if she were the criminal, in a case where she is the victim,” attorney Lisa M. Franco said.

Continue reading on Examiner.com Juvenile rape victim incarcerated until her trial – Wilmington Civil Rights | Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/civil-rights-in-wilmington/juvenile-rape-victim-incarcerated-until-her-trial#ixzz1rEDp9Z8h

Department of Homeland Security ordered an “indefinite quantity” of ammunition

When purchasing ammunition the average American has to consider many things, cost and storage being two main issues.  Luckily the United States Government and Homeland Security do not have the same issues.  It seems that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its Immigration and Customs Enforcement is getting an “indefinite quantity” of ammunition.  DHS is getting an “indefinite delivery” of an “indefinite quantity of ammunition.  To be more precise the ammunition is .40 caliber bullets to be provided by defense contractor ATK.

U.S. agents will receive a maximum of 450 million rounds over five years, according to a press release on the deal.

The high performance HST bullets are designed for law enforcement and ATK says they offer “optimum penetration for terminal performance.”

This means that the bullet’s hollow point tip passes through barriers and then expands for more damage.

Business Insider reports that the DHS also has an open bid out for a stockpile of rifle ammunition.  The DHS seems to be looking for up to 175 million rounds of .223 ammunition.

One wonders what the Department of Homeland Security has planned…

 

United States expecting missile launch from North Korea

The pentagon has activated its global missile shield based on an expectation.  North Korea is expected to launch a long-range missile according to defense officials.

The measures include stepped-up electronic monitoring, deployment of missile interceptor ships, and activation of radar networks to areas near the Korean peninsula and western Pacific.

The current White House administration will regard any launches by North Korea as a violation of the United Nations Security Council resolutions regardless of the reason North Korea claims to launch.  Current intelligence suggests that the North Koreans will be launching a missile between April 12 and April 15.

Satellite images have revealed that North Korea may be increasing their preparations for launch.

An analysis of images that the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies gave to Associated Press on Monday shows Pyongyang “has undertaken more extensive preparations for its planned April rocket launch than previously understood.”

Many have been worried about what North Korea will be like under the leadership of Kim Jong-un.

A bit on the NDAA

I spent some time this morning gathering National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) related images, I figured I would stock-pile them here for those of you who may spend some time doing the same thing.

So, check them out, or don’t, but here are some that I thought were moving or relevant:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, Indefinite Detention for some may be different than for others:

 

 

I have a Facebook Fan Page you can join, stay informed. I post updates regularly.

SHHHHH