Alt/Indie News

Conservatives Were Wrong about Ending Stop-and-Frisk

"I and others argued that crime would rise. Instead, it fell. We were wrong. Major crime in New York City has continued to decline almost across the board in the four years of the de Blasio administration, to the lowest rates since New York City began keeping extensive records on crime in the early 1960s. Crime is literally off the charts — the low end of the charts. To compare today’s crime rate to even that of ten years ago is to observe a breathtaking decline."

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How an Illegal Shipping Container Reshaped the World Economy

"Today, very few know what regulatory and lobbying problems the containers had to face before becoming a standard in the transportation of goods. An innovation full of controversy 60 years ago, and considered illegal by many, with a regulator deciding on its viability, seems nowadays as something natural that we cannot imagine life without."

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Thousands of Americans’ Electronics Illegally Searched at Border

"Over 30,000 people had their electronic devices searched without probable cause or a warrant by Customs and Border Protection in 2017. This is a 50% increase from 2016. Most of the searches took place at airports when travelers were leaving the country. Imagine the helplessness of having your phone taken by an Agent, and searched without your consent. No suspicion of any crime. No probable cause. Just some thug using brute force to violate your privacy. In these settings, travelers are powerless. You just want to get home or continue to your destination, but the American police state shakes you down. Hundreds of traveler complaints about such oppression have now surfaced thanks to a Freedom of Information Request."

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Renewal of FISA Section 702 with ‘abouts’ collection slated for Thursday

"The powers in question allow the government to target foreigners overseas, collecting their communications. But Americans’ communications — even those in the U.S. — can be snared if they are part of conversations that the targets are having. The bill allows 'abouts' collection, which is when the government scoops up communications that mention a target, even if he or she isn’t the sender or receiver."

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An Ex-Cop Talks About Police Shootings

"The graphic video from the killing of Daniel Shiver was released after the jury decided to acquit ex-Mesa police officer Philip Brailsford of second-degree murder and reckless manslaughter. The Mesa police department and Mesa police union both supported Brailsford, but it’s important to receive feedback from police sources who don’t have a vested interest in the case."

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Homeland Security suffers data leak on 240,000 employees

"The information in the file also included names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, positions, grades and duty stations. The agency said it 'did not include any information about employees’ spouses, children, family members and/or close associates.' The agency confirmed that the incident was not due to an external cyber-attack from unknown sources but stemmed from a leak inside the DHS itself. The breach was eventually categorized as a 'privacy incident.'"

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Will ABC really tell us what happened at Waco in 1993?

"If there was a way to characterize the government's actions against the Davidians as something other than mass murder that has been covered-up with rigged political inquiries, government biased experts, lackey judges, official lies and the intimidation of question askers, we, the producers of WTRE could not find it."

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Zuckerberg: Facebook looking into how it can use cryptocurrency

"Zuckerberg outlined two areas of technology that he wanted to research in 2018: encryption and cryptocurrencies. He said both technologies led to decentralised power, which Zuckerberg saw as a positive move. Zuckerberg wasn't explicit in his post about Facebook's plans regarding cryptocurrencies. He didn't say the company would add bitcoin as a payment option, for example. But it shows that one of the world's most powerful companies is looking closely at the technology."

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