Alternative News

Former Cop Who Claimed Disability Loses Pension After Wrestling In Reality TV Show

"Former township police officer Joseph Derrico has lost his tax-free disability pension following an examination by doctors that found him no longer permanently disabled, officials said yesterday. Derrico resigned from the force in October 2010, three months after he was indicted on a charge of receiving stolen property. He applied for and was accepted into a disability retirement worth $70,000 annually, but when video of him running after a monster truck and wrestling on a reality TV show surfaced earlier this year, the PFRS board ordered an investigation." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFormer Cop Who Claimed Disability Loses Pension After Wrestling In Reality TV Show

You may already be a winner in NSA’s “three-degrees” surveillance sweepstakes!

"So far, we know that there have been about 20,000 requests for FISA warrants to surveil domestic targets since 2001, but if those warrants covered three hops from the suspects at the center of the requests—depending on how tightly or loosely the NSA defines a relationship—three hops could encompass as much as 50 percent of the Internet-using population of the world. Sure, I’m not calling terrorists, and NSA analysts are not intercepting my calls or rifling through my Gmail account. (Well—probably not.) But the chance that they are is significantly higher than the probability I would have put on that scenario two months ago, and that’s disconcerting." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingYou may already be a winner in NSA’s “three-degrees” surveillance sweepstakes!

NSA Spokesman Accidentally Admits that the Government Is Spying On Virtually All Americans

"The NSA has pretended that it only spies on a small number of potential terrorists. But NSA Deputy Director John C. Inglis inadvertently admitted that the NSA could spy on just about all Americans. Inglis told Congress last week that the agency conducts “three-hop” analysis. Given that there are now approximately 875,000 people in the government’s database of suspected terrorists – including many thousands of Americans – every single American living on U.S. soil could easily be caught up in the dragnet. There are tens of thousands of Americans listed as suspected terrorists … including just about anyone who protests anything that the government or big banks do." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNSA Spokesman Accidentally Admits that the Government Is Spying On Virtually All Americans

“What Is That Box?” — When The NSA Shows Up At Your Internet Company

"They came in and showed me papers. It was a court order from the FISC (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court) for the intercept, with the agent’s name… and the court’s information. I think it was three or four pages of text. They wouldn’t let met me copy them. They let me take notes in regards to technical aspects of what they wanted to do. We had to facilitate them to set up a duplicate port to tap in to monitor that customer’s traffic. It was a 2U (two-unit) PC that we ran a mirrored ethernet port to. [What we ended up with was] a little box in our systems room that was capturing all the traffic to this customer. Everything they were sending and receiving." Continue reading →

Continue Reading“What Is That Box?” — When The NSA Shows Up At Your Internet Company

Man refuses to produce his papers at a Police License Checkpoint; threatened with warrant at home

"A man stood up to a 'License Checkpoint' conducted by police in his town. He refused to produce his papers when stopped at a roadblock on public streets. Draego says it was a pretty heated debate between him and the officer. He continued to refuse and then he says an officer threatened to break his window and eventually they told him to pull over. Draego said police told him they were going to serve him a warrant at his home, but he has not received it yet." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMan refuses to produce his papers at a Police License Checkpoint; threatened with warrant at home

TSA Officials Agree to Training Program for Police on Travelers’ First and Fourth Amendment Rights

"In a victory for the U.S. Constitution, officials with the Richmond International Airport (RIC) have required that all RIC law enforcement officers take part in a two-hour training course on the First and Fourth Amendment rights of passengers, guests and/or vendors. The required training, with materials for the course on travelers’ First and Fourth Amendment rights supplied by attorneys for The Rutherford Institute, was part of the settlement of a lawsuit filed on behalf of college student Aaron Tobey, who was arrested for engaging in a peaceful protest of the TSA's use of whole-body imaging scanners and enhanced pat downs at RIC." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTSA Officials Agree to Training Program for Police on Travelers’ First and Fourth Amendment Rights

Kerry vows to put the screws to Venezuela over Snowden

"US Secretary of State John Kerry has reportedly promised his Venezuelan counterpart to close NATO airspace to the country’s flights and stop crucial oil product deliveries if Caracas grants asylum to NSA leaker Edward Snowden. Kerry reportedly threatened to ground any Venezuelan aircraft in America’s or any NATO country’s airspace if there is the slightest suspicion that Snowden is using the flight to get to Caracas. Kerry also reportedly promised to intensify the ongoing process of revoking US entry visas to Venezuelan officials and businessmen associated with the deceased President Hugo Chavez." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingKerry vows to put the screws to Venezuela over Snowden

NSA Phone Snooping Cannot Be Challenged in Court, Feds Say

"The Obama administration for the first time responded to a Spygate lawsuit, telling a federal judge the wholesale vacuuming up of all phone-call metadata in the United States is in the 'public interest,' does not breach the constitutional rights of Americans and cannot be challenged in a court of law. The administration’s filing sets the stage for what is to be a lengthy legal odyssey — one likely to outlive the Obama presidency — that will define the privacy rights of Americans for years to come." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNSA Phone Snooping Cannot Be Challenged in Court, Feds Say

Judge ‘Troubled’ by DOJ Position in Drone Strike Case

"A Washington federal judge today said she was 'troubled' by the U.S. Department of Justice's position that the courts are powerless to hear a challenge of the government's ability to target and kill U.S. citizens abroad. Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Hauck argued there was a difference between having a constitutional right—which he said could be protected by the executive and legislative branches—and being able to make constitutional claims in court. Collyer countered that not being able to access the courts would deprive citizens of the ability to enforce their rights." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJudge ‘Troubled’ by DOJ Position in Drone Strike Case

A Citizen Can Be Handcuffed And Driven To A Different Location But Still Not Be “Under Arrest”

"The Portland police and City Attorney are making an argument in federal court this month that gives another glimpse into the increasing claims of authority of police in our society. Scott Miller was stopped for jaywalking by Officer Dean Halley in 2010 and admitted that he committed the common violation of pedestrians. The officer however proceeded to handcuff him, tell him 'you’re under arrest,' throw him into the back of a cruiser and then drove him a block away. He was in custody for about 30 minutes, but Deputy City Attorney William Manlove is arguing that citizens cannot sue because such acts do not constitute an actual arrest." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingA Citizen Can Be Handcuffed And Driven To A Different Location But Still Not Be “Under Arrest”