Russ Terrell

Vice President Joe Biden speaks at the closing of the National Conference on Mental Health in the South Court Auditorium in the White House complex in Washington, Monday, June 3, 2013. The conference is part of the Administration s effort to launch a national conversation to increase understanding and awareness of mental health. Credit: AP

In 2006, then-Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.) blasted the Bush administration’s domestic spying and called for a congressional investigation into the warrantless collection of millions of Americans’ phone records.

“I don’t have to listen to your phone calls to know what you’re doing. If I know every single phone call you made, I’m able to determine every single person you talked to. I can get a pattern about your life that is very, very intrusive,” he told CBS News.

Footage of the 2006 interview was also aired on network news Tuesday.

Watch the clip via Center for Democracy & Technology:

But that was then. Vice President Biden has yet to issue a similar critique of the National Security Agency’s (NSA) gigantic surveillance efforts under the Obama administration. However, his comments from 2006 seem to apply perfectly to the predicament privacy advocates find themselves in today.

In one of the NSA’s spying programs revealed by whistelblower Edward Snowden, the government sweeps up the phone records of millions of Americans every day and stores them in a digital library. That program was authorized by the USA Patriot Act, passed shortly after 9/11.

The second, called PRISM, taps into major U.S. technology companies and monitors emails in the search for foreign terrorists. That program was authorized by 2007 and 2008 laws that allow the government to monitor, without specific warrants, emails believed to belong to foreigners.

Obama and other administration officials argue the programs do not allow officials to “listen” to Americans’ phone calls.

However, critics of the domestic surveillance programs have made the same argument Biden did in 2006: “I don’t have to listen to your phone calls to know what you’re doing.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Jimmy Kimmel’s “Lie Witness News” crew has done it again.

Before Tuesday night’s game three of the NBA finals, Kimmel sent a crew to Miami to speak with people who claimed to be Miami Heat fans. The people were asked what they thought about a litany of things that just don’t exist. Things like:

• Miami’s “Peek-a-boo” zone defense
• Back-up guard MooShu Pork and his comments to the refs
• Spur’s three-point shooter Lando Calrissian
• Miami Heat coach Eric Estrada
• And Lebron James’ injury – a bruised vulva

Once again, the “Lie Witness News” crew proves that some people have little or no idea what they’re talking about.

(H/T: Jimmy Kimmel Live)

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If you look beyond its cardinal sin of being a kinda lousy movie, 2006's Superman Returns got plenty of other stuff wrong, too.

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ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla. (TheBlaze/AP) — It’s been two long weeks since the small city of Zephyrhills, Florida, learned that a $590 million Powerball ticket was sold at a supermarket here.

No one expected the winner to come forward in the first days after the announcement. After all, curious residents reasoned, the person might need a few days to absorb the shock, or to consult with financial advisers.

But then a week passed, and more, and now folks are so anxious to know the winner’s identity they could jump out of their skin:

“Being in a small town, everybody knows everybody and in some cases, everybody’s business,” said Dave Walters, a longtime reporter at the Zephyrhills News community newspaper. “It’s hard to keep a secret in this town, but this is one of the biggest mysteries we’ve had in a long, long time.”

Zephyrhills, population 13,337, is about 30 miles northeast of downtown Tampa. Like many Florida communities, it features a small, old-timey downtown strip where restaurants, gift shops and clothing stores sit under a canopy of oak trees. Around the city’s perimeter, there’s the suburban sprawl of big box stores. It was in that sprawl, at a Publix supermarket, where the winning ticket was sold.

Rumors were swirling about who the winner could be: Publix deli employees, single moms working at Wal-Mart — even the cousin of a friend of a guy who lived clear in another county.

“Anybody who did not show up for work on that Monday was considered to be the lottery winner,” Walters said. “If you had the flu and didn’t show up for work, everyone thought you were the lottery winner. If you took a personal day or a sick day, they thought you had won the lottery.”

The city is known around the Tampa Bay area for a few things: as the source for bottled spring water, as an area where people like to skydive, and as the home to several mobile home parks that cater to the elderly.

Joe Abed, who owns Manolo’s Italian restaurant in the historic downtown, thinks the ticket was sold to a senior citizen.

“It’s a conspiracy theory,” he said, using his hands to make quote marks. “I believe it’s a senior citizen that purchased the ticket and they just have no idea that they won the ticket.”

Marsha Decena, a Zephyrhills clothing store owner, said she’s anxious to find out who won.

“I’ve heard so many different rumors through town, from it being a 23- or 26-year-old woman to somebody might have washed it in their pocket, the ticket is just lost and they don’t know that they won,” she said. “It’s crazy.”

The winner has 60 days from the date of the May 18 drawing to claim a lump-sum payment, and until mid-November to claim annual cash payments.

Zephyrhills resident Don Lawrence thinks the winner is just lining up legal and accounting staff.

“Lost the ticket or something like that? No, I don’t think so,” he said. “I think somebody’s taking their time, doing it the right way.”

Newly elected Mayor Danny Burgess — who turned 27 on Saturday — said he hopes it’s a resident.

“Just because one person won the lottery, we all feel like we won, that’s the kind of community this is,” Burgess said. “I absolutely hope for the lottery winner that this is a positive, life-changing event. Only in America can you go to bed with a lottery ticket and wake up a mega-millionaire. I hope that they understand, appreciate and recognize the significance of this.”

Abed wonders if the ticket eventually is “just going to go back into the system” so the country can have “another huge lottery.”

But that’s wishful thinking. According to the Florida Lottery website, if a Powerball jackpot isn’t claimed within 180 days from the draw date, “the funds to pay the unclaimed jackpot will be returned to the lottery members in their proportion of sales for the jackpot rollover series.”

In other words, state coffers will claim the jackpot, and the people of Zephyrhills will be left to wonder.

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Corey Thompson (KDRV)

An Oregon man has had rifle confiscated and is facing criminal charges after he attempted to stop a wanted felon from breaking into his home by firing a warning shot.

Police in Medford, Ore., say the incident occurred at around 11:30 p.m. on Sunday. Officers responded to an apartment complex in the area after receiving a disturbance call. During their investigation, cops heard a gun shot and a man running away toward the complex’s parking lot.

Authorities say 40-year-old Jonathon Kinsella, a wanted felon, was attempting to flee the scene when he was arrested on outstanding warrants, including for burglary and assault.

Jonathon Kinsella (KDRV)

Military veteran Corey Thompson, 36, told KDRV-TV that the wanted felon was trying to beak into his home via the back door. Defending his property, Thompson said he warned the criminal that he was armed and he was giving him his one and only warning shot.

“This is the end result. You break into someone’s house, there’s consequences,” Thompson said.

Wielding his AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, the veteran made good on his threat and fired one warning shot. The bullet did not strike the suspect or anyone else.

“When I’m dealt with a stressful situation, being a veteran from Iraq and the Afghanistan war, it’s natural. I just jump into combat mode. I told him, ‘I’m going to give you a warning shot’,” Thompson explained.

However, police later determined he wasn’t justified in firing his weapon. Medford Police Lt. Mike Budreau said “there was nothing that the suspect was doing that was aggressive enough to justify the shooting.”

Apparently, for police in Medford, a wanted felon trying to break into a law-abiding citizen’s home isn’t enough to justify a warning shot.

Thompson was charged with unlawful use of a weapon, menacing and reckless endangering. The veteran’s AR-15 was seized by police because they claim it was used in the commission of a crime.

Thompson said he doesn’t agree with the police’s decision in this case.

“I can see where they’re coming from, with those kinds of  ordinances and stuff. I understand yes, I did discharge my weapon but I was careful not to fire it at any body’s residence. It was at the ground specifically,” he added.

Attempts by TheBlaze to contact Thompson were unsuccessful.

Carousel image via shutterstock.com

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An 89-year-old woman in a hospital bed said “all I could see was foam and teeth” as she described being attacked by a neighbor’s dog to local news station WKMG.

Betty Meitzler spoke of the attack from her hospital bed. (Image: WKMG screenshot)

The pit bull/lab mix attacked Betty Meitzler of Geneva, Florida, Thursday while she was in her own backyard. She tried fighting off the dog, but it only made matters worse.

“I started hitting at him and that made it worse, and I started yelling and that made it worse, so I stopped yelling,” Meitzler told WKMG.

It was the dog’s owner, Thomas Filiault, who rescued Meitzler after she was under attack for about 15 minutes.

“He came over and he said, ‘Oh Betty, I’m so sorry,’” she said.

But Meitzler feels this situation could have been avoided. The dog, named Kira, attacked Meitzler’s daughter only a month before, causing the owners to pay a $500 fine and Kira to be labeled as a “dangerous dog,” WKMG reported.

The pit bull involved in the attack named Kira. (Image: WKMG screenshot)

“With what’s happened with me and my daughter, I think they missed the boat somewhere along the line,” Meitzler said, believing the dog should have been put down after the first attack.

The pit bull was allowed to be returned after the initial attack because the severity of it was not enough to merit it being euthanized.

WKMG reported that Meitzler and her daughter will be pursuing legal action now. The dog has been taken into custody by Seminole County Animal Services as the incident is being investigated.

Watch the report with Meitzler speaking from the hospital where she was treated for severe bite wounds:

This story has been updated to correct a typo.

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"I’ve always laughed at them..."

Via NRO’s Andrew Johnson, Joe Scarborough isn’t the only TV show host rethinking his scorn of gun-rights advocates this week.  Piers Morgan, who engaged in some of the worst demagoguery outside of the White House and Capitol Hill over the last six months on that issue, routinely derided the idea that the American government couldn’t [...]

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It's come to this.

Via Mediaite, I don’t know what to say, guys. Actual quote: “This president — they make so much of these issues because this president is such a great president,” Pelosi told reporters during her weekly press briefing. “They will use talking points on Benghazi, they will use the IRS, they will use AP, as, I [...]

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(Photo: Shutterstock.com)

Gregory Dean, Jr. was pulled over in New Lebanon, N.Y., Sunday for a light on his license plate being burnt out. But what began as a simple traffic stop ended up with Dean being arrested over two bullets in his registered firearm, which put him in violation of the state’s new law, the Journal News reported.

Last month, a provision in New York’s strict gun control laws went into effect, making it illegal to have more than seven rounds in a magazine unless said firearm was being used at a range or in a competition.

The state troopers saw a .40-caliber pistol on Dean’s passenger side when they approached his window. Although it was lawfully possessed by Dean, they discovered nine bullets within the magazine, putting him two bullets over the seven-bullet max set by the Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act.

Dean was arrested for this violation and charged with unlawful possession for the number of bullets in the ammunition feeding device and third-degree aggravated unlicensed operation, according to the Journal News. Both are misdemeanor charges that went along with infractions he received regarding the light outage on his vehicle as well.

Dean was released without bail and has a court date for later this month.

Update: It has also been reported that Dean was found to be driving with a suspended license.

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Related:

• New York Enacts the Strictest Gun Laws in the United States — Get All the Details
• Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Challenge to Strict New York Gun Law
• A Form of Gun Confiscation Has Reportedly Begun in New York State — Here’s the Justification Being Used

Featured image via Shutterstock.com.

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