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10 Shocking Examples of Police Killing Innocent People in the “War on Drugs”

“In a democratic republic, the ‘innocent until proven guilty’ concept is supposed to be sacrosanct. Jurors, police officers, judges and prosecuting attorneys—at least in theory—are required to err on the side of caution, and if a guilty person occasionally goes free, so be it. But with the war on drugs, the concept of innocent until proven guilty has fallen by the wayside on countless occasions. The war on drugs is not only fought aggressively, it is fought carelessly and haphazardly, and a long list of innocent victims have been killed or maimed in the process. Below are 10 innocent victims who became collateral damage and lost their lives in the war on drugs.” Continue reading →

Who’s Hate-filled and Bitter? Marriage, Domestic Partner Benefits & Fairness Ordinance

On December 2, 2011, we published an article entitled “NU Domestic Partner Benefits: Trying to Keep Up With The (Immoral) Joneses”, about the Nebraska Board of Regents’ consideration of a policy to extend University of Nebraska system employee benefits to employees’ homosexual and unmarried co-habitating couples. The 2011 article received a comment last month which […]

Kim Jong Un woos defectors: Come home. We won’t kill you … promise

“North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is taking a new approach to defectors who have fled his impoverished and repressive state, promising they will not be harmed if they come home, and even offering cash rewards, according to some in the exile community. That’s in sharp contrast to the approach taken by Kim’s father, who during nearly 20 years in power hid the issue and severely punished the families of those who defected, fearing they would undermine the state with their tales of the prosperous South. Exactly why Kim has taken a different view of defectors is unclear.” Continue reading →

Obama DOJ Asks Court to Grant Immunity to George W. Bush For Iraq War

“In court papers filed today (PDF), the United States Department of Justice requested that George W. Bush, Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice and Paul Wolfowitz be granted procedural immunity in a case alleging that they planned and waged the Iraq War in violation of international law. Plaintiff Sundus Shaker Saleh, an Iraqi single mother and refugee now living in Jordan, filed a complaint in March 2013 in San Francisco federal court alleging that the planning and waging of the war constituted a ‘crime of aggression’ against Iraq, a legal theory that was used by the Nuremberg Tribunal to convict Nazi war criminals after World War II.” Continue reading →

Report of FBI back door roils OpenBSD community [2010]

“The report surfaced in e-mail made public yesterday from a former government contractor, who alleged that he worked with the FBI to implement ‘a number of back doors’ in OpenBSD, which has a reputation for high security and is used in some commercial products. He said the project was a ‘circa 1999 joint research and development project between the FBI and the NSA,’ which is part of the Defense Department. The OpenBSD project, which was once funded by DARPA but had its funding yanked in 2003 for unspecified reasons, says that it takes an ‘uncompromising view toward increased security.'” Continue reading →

Venezuela to install 30,000 surveillance cameras

Venezuela is installing 30,000 surveillance cameras to crack down on rampant crime, officials said Wednesday. Most of the Chinese-made equipment will be put up in the capital Caracas. Some is already in place in a municipality within the Caracas metropolitan area as part of a pilot program. The equipment, manufactured by Chinese company CEIEC, will be delivered to Venezuela under cooperation agreements agreed by Caracas and Beijing. The information picked up by the devices will be made available to police for use in crime probes.” Continue reading →

Michael Hastings’ Dangerous Mind: Journalistic Star Was Loved, Feared and Haunted

“Edward Snowden’s revelations about the National Security Agency’s massive surveillance program became public. Hastings was convinced he was a target. [..] He came to believe his Mercedes was being tampered with. ‘Nothing I could say could console him,’ Thigpen says. One night in June, he came to Thigpen’s apartment after midnight and urgently asked to borrow her Volvo. He said he was afraid to drive his own car. She declined. [..] ‘He was scared, and he wanted to leave town,’ she says. The next day, around 11:15 a.m., she got a call from her landlord, who told her Hastings had died early that morning.” Continue reading →

Canada plans to use hexacopter drones in war against geese

“Canada’s capital has ordered drone strikes to rid a popular Ottawa beach of pesky geese that dirty the waters with fecal matter, demonstrating on Wednesday how it works. The hexacopter — a 26-inch-wide remote-controlled hobby aircraft that was adapted by its owner for pest control — takes off every morning at dawn and chases away the waterfowl sullying the Ottawa River near Petrie Island park on the city’s east side. ‘It’s been really effective,’ city councillor Bob Monette told AFP. The city even obtained a special ‘scare permit’ from wildlife authorities to bother the protected birds. The $30,000-a-year program is to continue through to the end of October.” Continue reading →