Yearly Archives: 2013

How Laura Poitras Helped Snowden Spill His Secrets

"By late winter, Poitras decided that the stranger with whom she was communicating was credible. There were none of the provocations that she would expect from a government agent — no requests for information about the people she was in touch with, no questions about what she was working on. Snowden told her early on that she would need to work with someone else, and that she should reach out to Greenwald. She was unaware that Snowden had already tried to contact Greenwald, and Greenwald would not realize until he met Snowden in Hong Kong that this was the person who had contacted him more than six months earlier." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow Laura Poitras Helped Snowden Spill His Secrets

Concern over NSA privacy violations unites Democrats and Republicans, poll finds

"A July Washington Post-ABC News poll — before the latest disclosures reported by The Post — found fully 70 percent of Democrats and 77 percent of Republicans said the NSA’s phone and Internet surveillance program intrudes on some Americans’ privacy rights. What’s more, Democrats and Republicans who did see intrusions were about equally likely to say they were 'not justified:' 51 and 52 percent respectively. Nearly six in 10 political independents who saw intrusions said they are unjustified. There was less partisan agreement in 2006, when news about the George W. Bush administration’s warrantless wiretapping program broke." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingConcern over NSA privacy violations unites Democrats and Republicans, poll finds

Mayor Bloomberg Calls Video Cameras For NYPD Officers “A Nightmare”

"When Judge Shira A. Scheindlin, of Federal District Court in Manhattan, ruled on Monday that the city’s stop-and-frisk program was unconstitutional and ordered that police officers in certain precincts strap tiny cameras to their uniforms to record their dealings with the public, Mr. Bloomberg’s response was immediate and emphatic. 'It would be a nightmare,' he said. 'We can’t have your cameraman follow you around and film things without people questioning whether they deliberately chose an angle, whether they got the whole picture in.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMayor Bloomberg Calls Video Cameras For NYPD Officers “A Nightmare”

Should Cops Wear Google Glass?

"Even in its most basic form—no fancy infrared add-ons—Google Glass would make the ultimate cop-monitoring tool: the 'stock' models are capable of streaming video and audio to a Google Hangout, which means a supervisor could sit in front of a monitor and watch several officers’ streams in real time. It’s also open to modification, meaning that a third-party developer could build apps for facial recognition, sound triangulation, or crime-scene navigation (the facial-recognition part is already in development). And for a couple hundred dollars, it’s also affordable to most police departments, especially those with budgets fattened by civil forfeiture." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingShould Cops Wear Google Glass?

Fake police gang nabbed in western Switzerland

"Swiss police have arrested a gang of fake officers who stole tens of thousands of dollars from tourists in the Lake Geneva area this summer. The gang, made up mainly of Romanian nationals, had been posing as officers in some of the top tourist spots in Geneva and neighbouring Vaud, police said on Friday. The set-up was always the same: a plain-clothed member of the gang would ask an unsuspecting tourist for directions, only to be interrupted by two accomplices wearing police uniforms demanding to see his and the tourist's identification. With the tourist's wallet in hand, the phony officers discretely pocketed the cash inside." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFake police gang nabbed in western Switzerland

Police tell victims: Call 911 and you’ll get evicted under ‘nuisance’ laws

"In Pennsylvania and other states, police can force landlords to evict tenants who officers consider to be a nuisance. According to the New York Times, under so-called 'nuisance property' laws, individuals like domestic violence victim Lakisha Briggs of Norristown, PA can be told by police that if they call 911 one more time, they’ll be forced out of their homes. The nuisance ordinances are intended to protect residential neighborhoods from rowdy, disruptive households, but in cases like Briggs’, they can leave victims of violence in an impossible situation, needing to call for help, but knowing it could cost them their home." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPolice tell victims: Call 911 and you’ll get evicted under ‘nuisance’ laws

Michelle Obama: America ready for female president

"Asked if she thinks the country will see a female president in her lifetime, the wife of President Barack Obama said: 'Yes, I think the country is ready for it. It’s just a question of who’s the best person out there.' She added that she herself will not run for president. Obama also said she thinks her husband’s time in office has helped ease racial prejudice in the United States. 'Children born in the last eight years will only know an African-American man being president of the United States. That changes the bar for all of our children, regardless of their race, their sexual orientation, their gender,' Obama said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMichelle Obama: America ready for female president

Obama has not delivered on May’s promise of transparency on drones

"When the president acknowledges four deaths of US citizens, but not 4,000 deaths of non-Americans, he signals to the world a callous and discriminatory disregard for human life. Perhaps only a fraction of these 4,000 deaths were unlawful. But acknowledging and investigating these deaths is a matter of dignity and justice – for the survivors of strikes, their communities and their countrymen. When deaths are found to be unlawful, victims’ families and survivors have a right to reparation. Refusing to investigate deaths is a matter of disrespect both for international law and for the public’s right to know the full truth." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama has not delivered on May’s promise of transparency on drones

How to Fight the Modern State

"An inventory of all public buildings, and on the local level that is not that much — schools, fire, police station, courthouses, roads, and so forth — and then property shares or stock should be distributed to the local private property owners in accordance with the total lifetime amount of taxes — property taxes —that these people have paid. After all, it is theirs, they paid for these things … Without local enforcement, by compliant local authorities, the will of the central government is not much more than hot air. Yet this local support and cooperation is precisely what needs to be missing." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow to Fight the Modern State

The Ron Paul Channel: libertarianism ‘unfiltered and uninterrupted’

"Filmed in the little town of Clute, Texas, and Los Angeles, the Ron Paul Channel will publish three 30-minute shows per week. Its slogan: 'Turn Off Your TV. Turn On the Truth' suggests a combative tone, while those behind it say there has been an 'outpouring of interest' in the first few days. It's Paul's first major initiative since retiring from Congress in January. He told the Guardian that he opted for a news channel 'because the mainstream media is not telling the stories that Americans really need to know'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Ron Paul Channel: libertarianism ‘unfiltered and uninterrupted’