Free Republic

The Justice Department was sued Wednesday by a privacy group seeking information on the FBI recruitment of Best Buy employees to search consumer computers for child pornography during repairs — a practice that came to light in court documents in a recent case in Santa Ana, California. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Trump administration’s Justice Department, demanding access to records about any FBI training and payment to Geek Squad workers to search customer computers without a court warrant. At issue isn’t the criminality of child pornography or efforts to stop the...

Say your employer wants you to get a genetic test. You politely decline because you consider it a gross infringement of privacy. Well, too bad—your monthly health insurance payments just spiked 30%. This could be the reality under HR 1313, the Preserving Employee Wellness Programs Act, a House GOP-sponsored bill that would essentially allow companies with workplace wellness programs to demand your genetic information (or force you to pay a big penalty). The legislation has now passed a House committee on a straight party line vote, reports STAT News, with all 22 Republicans unified in support against 17 Democratic detractors....

The CEO of Grubhub, an online food delivery service, sent a company wide email Wednesday suggesting employees who agree with President-elect Donald Trump’s behaviors and his campaign rhetoric should resign. “If you do not agree with this statement then please reply to this email with your resignation because you have no place here,” wrote Matt Maloney, Co-Founder of Grubhub. “We do not tolerate hateful attitudes on our team." Maloney, a Hillary Clinton supporter, sent the email Wednesday afternoon with the subject line, “So…that happened…what’s next?” He made it clear in the email statement that he is personally stunned and deeply...

Sen. Bernie Sanders supporters were recently caught on camera beating each other up, mistaking each as Donald Trump supporters. In the video, which was uploaded to YouTube Friday, rowdy protesters are seen getting more violent with each other, thinking the others were Trump supporters. Towards the end of the one-minute video, the crowd begins to chant “Bernie! Bernie!” The fight broke out during the protest of the Trump rally at San Jose Thursday. The protesters attacked Trump supporters in other instances, pelting them with eggs, burning “Make America Great Again” hats and American flags. San Jose police widely condemned the...

More than 200 Cuban protesters were arrested over the weekend as the island prepared for President Obama's historic visit, which began yesterday. Dissidents of the human rights movement #TodosMarchamos, including the Damas de Blanco (Ladies in White) and Unión Patriótica de Cuba (Cuban Patriotic Union, UNPACU), gathered at Calle 26 and Avenida Tercera Sunday morning to peacefully protest the Castro regime. Minutes later, the scene erupted. Anti-Castro protesters, holding symbolic palm leaves, sat on the ground while Castro supporters chanted, "Fidel." Police forcefully arrested demonstrators, pushing them onto public buses used to transport the dissidents. Videos from the protest show...

Former WDBJ employee Vester Lee Flanagan has been identified by multiple news outlets as the man responsible for the deaths of 24-year-old reporter Alison Parker and 27-year-old Adam Ward. Flanagan who, according to one report by WTVR used the on air name of Bryce Williams, was fired from the TV station two years ago. On Wednesday, a Twitter account linked to a man named Bryce Williams posted first person video of the shooting online. Within minutes, Twitter took down the account. According to his LinkedIn, Williams worked at WDBJ from March 2012- February 2013.

The H-1B program was bombarded with applications on April 1, 2015 and that's not a joke. On April 7, the USCIS announced the application cap had been reached, with approximately 233,000 applications for 85,000 slots. To determine which employers get H1B's they will hold a lottery. Realistically who cares? Foreign companies will just continue to fill their needs with B1 visas and exploit this program and American jobs will continue to be lost. Here's who cares, displaced American workers, Sen. Grassley, Sen. Sessions, and I care. Let me tell you who doesn't care if they cap H1B's or not -...

John Boehner is getting revenge. He secured his third term as speaker Tuesday afternoon, losing 25 votes on the House floor to three relatively unknown members of the House Republican Conference. But he’s already punishing those who betrayed him. First up: Florida Reps. Daniel Webster and Richard Nugent. The pair will be booted from their spots on the House Rules Committee, according to sources familiar with the decision. Webster ran against Boehner (R-Ohio) for speaker Tuesday, and Nugent supported his fellow Floridian. The Rules Committee is a panel appointed by the speaker, and it controls the flow of legislation to...

This is marijuana: This is okra: Basically the same, right? If you agree, you may have a bright future as a Georgia drug warrior. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that heavily armed Broward County deputies, accompanied by a helicopter and a K-9 unit, showed up at the home of retiree Dwayne Perry in Cartersville on Wednesday after someone spotted his okra plants from the air. "They were strapped to the gills," Perry told the paper. "Anything could have happened." Fortunately, no humans or dogs were killed. Georgia State Patrol Capt. Kermit Stokes, whose agency is in charge of the anti-pot task...

Sen. Lindsey Graham is also now considering a run for the White House. The South Carolina Republican, up for re-election next month, told the Weekly Standard he might make a bid in 2016 if he feels like no one represents his views on foreign policy. Graham also criticized Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a potential presidential candidate, saying he is “not quite ready” to become president. “If I get through my general election, if nobody steps up in the presidential mix, if nobody’s out there talking — me and McCain have been talking — I may just jump in to get...

Waldo, Florida — Many have heard the shocking stories about a little Florida town named Waldo — also known as America’s Worst Speed Trap. Over the years multiple complaints have been filed against the Waldo Police Department in regards to the tactics used by their police force. And with every complaint, city officials turned their heads. Yesterday, five Waldo Police Officers came forward and told city council that they had been under strict orders to meet a quota for traffic tickets under the command of Waldo Police Chief Mike Szabo and City Manager Kim Worley. Writing tickets to meet a...

WALDO — Five Florida police officers told the Waldo City Council that they’ve been under a quota to write traffic tickets, which is a violation of Florida law. The Gainesville Sun reports Officer Brandon Roberts told council members on Tuesday night they were required by Chief Mike Szabo to write 12 speeding tickets per 12-hour shift, or face punishment. He offered an electronic presentation and printed emails as evidence. Roberts said they were speaking up because they no longer have faith in their “chain of command.” Waldo was ranked as the nation’s third worst speed trap by a national publication...

On a Sunday afternoon in 2008, a tactical police team raided the Easton, Connecticut house of Ronald Terebesi searching for a small amount of personal drugs. While by day's end the police discovered drug paraphernalia and 0.02 ounces of a substance believed to be crack cocaine, an officer also killed Terebesi's unarmed guest, Gonzalo Guizan (pictured), by discharging his Glock sidearm six times until the weapon finally jammed. Guizan's estate and Terebesi filed civil suits against the officers in the raid, although the estate later settled out of court for $3.5 million. The tactical team—called SWERT for Southwest Regional Emergency...

The promiscuous use of SWAT teams is a bigger menace than armored vehicles on our streets. Contrary to what you may have heard, the armored vehicles that appeared on the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, during the unrest that followed the police shooting of Michael Brown did not come from the Pentagon. "Most of the stuff you are seeing in video coming out of Ferguson is not military," Rear Adm. John Kirby, the Defense Department's press secretary, told reporters last week. "The military is not the only source of tactical gear in this country." In other words: Don't blame the military...

The National Security Agency is secretly providing data to nearly two dozen U.S. government agencies with a “Google-like” search engine built to share more than 850 billion records about phone calls, emails, cellphone locations, and internet chats, according to classified documents obtained by The Intercept. The documents provide the first definitive evidence that the NSA has for years made massive amounts of surveillance data directly accessible to domestic law enforcement agencies. Planning documents for ICREACH, as the search engine is called, cite the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration as key participants. ICREACH contains information on the...

Once the cops have pinned a non-violent suspect to the ground, how many times are they allowed to punch him in the head? Is it fewer than 20? I would say so, but I'm not a Greenville County, South Carolina, deputy. Greenville officers approached a man at a Walmart parking lot on Saturday. The man appeared to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and didn't respond to police questions or instructions. Eventually, the officers followed the man inside the store, where they attempted to detain him. The deputies claim the man resisted, though video footage of the incident...

Last month, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) proposed the SWEET Act, an excise tax on sweetened beverages. The tax, which has been billed as a national soda tax, would lay a one-cent duty on every teaspoon of sugar in soft drinks and other beverages. The proposal is intended "to curb obesity, diabetes, and the resulting health care costs." Why is this a good idea? “When a two-liter cola is 99 cents and blueberries are over three dollars, something has gone very wrong,” DeLauro told attendees. For the record, a pint of blueberries contains more than 40g of sugar. That’s about as...

Now that summer is over and school is starting up again, it's time for the torrent of ridiculous "zero tolerance" suspensions and arrests to resume. Summerville High School in Summerville, South Carolina, is wasting no time: A 16-year-old student was arrested and suspended for writing a story in which he used a gun to kill a dinosaur. The student, Alex Stone, was assigned by a teacher to write a story about himself. Stone chose to embellish his story with obviously fictional details, like dinosaurs. But the teacher saw the word "gun" and the rest is history, according to NBC-12: Stone...

SADDLE BROOK, NJ –Robert Lintner, 65, did not have a good day. It all began when his wife stabbed him in the neck during an argument in the morning. Things took a turn for the worse when police, summoned to Mr. Litner’s home, discovered the man’s firearm and ammunition collection. Mr. Litner owned almost 200 guns in five vaults, had tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition in the home, and around 300 pounds of black powder. Because he did not consent to the search, cops used a jaws-of-life from the local fire department to open the safes, which are...

A stunning change happened overnight in Ferguson, Missouri after the government took a different approach to people’s civil liberties in the area. Gone were the SWAT trucks and snipers. Gone were the riot shields and militaristic outfits. Gone was the hostility. And guess what? Gone was the violence. Yesterday the Missouri Highway Patrol was given responsibility over the area. Patrol Capt. Ronald S. Johnson, who is a Ferguson native, marched in front of the crowd and set clear priorities for the marchers which respected their civil liberties. Governor Jay Nixon had vowed to take a different approach to the event,...