Animal Farm

NSA surveillance: don’t underestimate the extraordinary power of metadata

"Four years ago a German Green party politician, Malte Spitz, sued to have Deutsche Telekom hand over six months of his phone data that he then made available to Zeit Online. The paper then did what any decent NSA operative would do, namely combine his phone's geolocation data with information relating to his life as a politician – Twitter feeds, blog entries and websites – to create an extraordinary animated reconstruction of a day in his life. It's this revelatory power that enables metadata to expose far more than what a target is talking about. In the old days, the medium was the message. Now it's the metadata." Continue reading →

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Crime of Making a Terrorist Threat

"Imagine calling in police because some little kid points a toy gun or his finger, and says 'Bang, bang, you're dead'. This is already happening. These things are all birds of a feather. Penalties are severe. These laws are oppressive. They make crimes out of many varieties of ordinary statements made by ordinary people in many situations. Someone who speaks in anger, or when tipsy, or because they're upset, or without meaning what they say, can suddenly be in hot water. It is not uncommon for people to say 'I'll kill you' without meaning it. These laws give the justice system heavy artillery to fire against anyone who falls into its clutches for any reason." Continue reading →

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Audit Findings: State Lab Lies About Blood Alcohol Levels

"A recent audit of the state lab that conducts alcohol blood tests found that the laboratory skews test results in favor of prosecutors. So while drunk-driving laws are already utterly arbitrary and damaging for people don't even damage any person or property, it turns out that being sober by the state's standards won't even save you. The state will simply fudge the science or outright lie to favor itself." Continue reading →

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Every Georgia driver who refuses to blow is strapped to a table, put in a headlock, blood forcibly taken

"In some Georgia counties, as well as all over the USA, drivers are getting their blood forcibly stolen from them. As shown in this video, every driver who refuses to give the police a blow, even for misdemeanor offenses, is strapped to a table, put into a headlock by a police officer, and their blood forcibly taken. 'We all are American citizens and you guys strapped me to a table like I'm in Guantanamo ****ing Bay!' said one victim of the vampiric policy." Continue reading →

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84-year old Florida homeowner under investigation after shooting at burglar

“An 84-year-old Florida man returned home with his wife Sunday afternoon only to find a burglar’s car parked in his driveway and the man stuffing the resident’s belongings into his car. After several warnings, the elderly man shot at the robber, but … Continue reading →

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‘Hell to pay:’ Residents angry as RCMP seize guns from High River homes

"RCMP revealed Thursday that officers have seized a 'substantial amount' of firearms from homes in evacuated High River. 'We just want to make sure that all of those things are in a spot that we control, simply because of what they are,' said Sgt. Brian Topham. 'People have a significant amount of money invested in firearms ... so we put them in a place that we control and that they’re safe.' About 30 RCMP officers set up a blockade, preventing 50 residents from walking into the town. Dozens more police cars, lights on, could be seen lining streets in the town on standby. Officers laid down a spike belt to stop anyone from attempting to drive past the blockade." Continue reading →

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6 Insidious Ways Surveillance Changes the Way We Think and Act

"When I moved to a Czech village in 1994 to teach English, I was fascinated by the cultural difference between Americans like me and my new community. At that time, the oppressive memory of the dreaded Communist secret police, the StB, was still fresh. As a brash young ex-pat, born after the era of McCarthy and J. Edgar Hoover, I understood little of what it felt like to live under constant surveillance. The Czechs knew better. Several decades under the watchful eyes of the StB (and before that, the spies of the Habsburg Empire) had molded their attitudes and behavior in ways that were both subtle and profound." Continue reading →

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Incoming police chief shoots woman while trying to kill her dog

"A woman in North Carolina says that the incoming police chief in one town did not react to provide immediate assistance after accidentally shooting her while trying to kill her allegedly aggressive dog. Tamara Whitt said that she couldn’t understand why Winston-Salem Assistant Chief Barry Rountree would take the chance of firing his weapon while she was standing so close to the 'very passive' dog. Doctors told Whitt that the 40 caliber bullet would have to remain in her leg because it was too dangerous to remove. Rountree was placed on administrative leave. The city, however, insisted that Rountree’s swearing-in would go on as scheduled on Sunday." Continue reading →

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U.S. government will finally retire most research chimpanzees but retain 50

"The US government said Wednesday it will send most of its 360 research chimpanzees into retirement but will keep a small colony of about 50 for possible future studies on vaccines and behavior. The National Institutes of Health announced after more than two years of examination it was accepting most of the recommendations of independent experts to phase out the bulk of biomedical research using the primates. One recommendation the NIH did not accept was that chimpanzees should be provided at least 1,000 square feet (93 square meters) per animal." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. government will finally retire most research chimpanzees but retain 50

Florida man facing criminal charges after cooking and eating family dog

"A 25-year-old Florida man was arrested and charged with animal cruelty on Thursday for allegedly killing his family’s dog, then cooking it and eating it. The Tampa Tribune reported on Friday that authorities picked up Thomas Huggins after being alerted by his his mother, Margie Huggins, that she had found the dog’s ribs inside a pot. She later showed officers more of the dog’s remains in the freezer, along with the dog’s head and innards, which were in a trash can. 'I don’t understand it. I’ve never been violent like that,' she said to the Tribune. 'I grew up in the church, in fear of Jesus Christ and the wrath that will be put on you. He doesn’t feel that.'" Continue reading →

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