Drugs & Prohibitions

Jacob Hornberger: More Judicial Deference on National-Security State Murder

"Continuing the long tradition of deference to the national-security state by the U.S. federal judiciary, a federal judge recently dismissed a lawsuit by the sons of a man named Frank Olson seeking damages for the CIA’s murder of their father. The excuses that the judge used to dismiss the case were the statute of limitations and a previous settlement that had been entered into regarding the case. The CIA confessed to its LSD experiment on Olson, but the confession, along with all the remorse and regret, were nothing more than a highly sophisticated way to cover up the fact that the CIA had actually murdered Olson by pushing him out of that high-rise New York City hotel room." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJacob Hornberger: More Judicial Deference on National-Security State Murder

Justice Department to review DEA’s mass surveillance program

"The Justice Department is reviewing a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration unit that passes tips culled from intelligence intercepts, wiretaps, informants and a large telephone database to field agents, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Monday. 'It’s my understanding… that the Department of Justice is looking at some of the issues raised in the story,' Carney said during his daily briefing at the White House on Monday. Carney referred reporters to a Justice Department spokesman, who confirmed that a review was under way, but declined further comment." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJustice Department to review DEA’s mass surveillance program

DEA agents use NSA intercepts to investigate Americans

"The Drug Enforcement Agency has a secret unit that has been funneling information from intelligence intercepts, wiretaps, and a massive database of phone records. The unit has been passing this data to law enforcement agencies across the nation and assists in launching criminal investigations against American citizens. Matthew Feeney, assistant editor for Reason 24/7, joins us with more on the findings and how this affects people's Fourth Amendment rights." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDEA agents use NSA intercepts to investigate Americans

Hackers now stashing child pornography on business websites

"A new study from an online watchdog group shows a surge in complaints that hackers are manipulating both adult and regular business sites to spread viruses and images of children being sexually assaulted. According to the BBC, the group, the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), has tracked 227 reports of use of 'orphan folders' to hide the offending material in the past six weeks. One example involved a furniture store site being used as a repository for the images of sexual abuse. 'What better way to scare someone into paying a ransom than to tell them that they have been spotted accessing child pornography?' Cluley told the Independent." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHackers now stashing child pornography on business websites

Irish man facing U.S. extradition for hosting largest child porn network on the planet

"If extradited to the US, Marques faces four charges relating to images hosted on the Freedom Hosting network, including images of the torture and rape of children. He could be sentenced to 30 years in prison. Freedom Hosting hosted sites on the The Onion Router (Tor) network, which anonymises and encrypts traffic, masking the identity of users. Users on the Tor sub-Reddit were suspicious about the news, dissecting the details of the vulnerability and pointing to a previous case where the FBI had taken over and maintained a site hosting child abuse material for two weeks in order to identify users." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIrish man facing U.S. extradition for hosting largest child porn network on the planet

‘Nut-free’ school zone decision upheld by Michigan Court of Appeals

"Michigan Court of Appeals panel upheld a decision Tuesday dismissing a lawsuit over a Romeo-area elementary school's policy creating a nut-free school. The unpublished opinion addresses a lawsuit filed by the parent of a student at Hevel Elementary School challenging the decision of Romeo Community Schools to make the elementary school a nut-free zone because of a student with life-threatening nut allergies. The ban prohibited all peanuts and tree nuts from the building, and school officials periodically searched lunch boxes and backpacks, according to the opinion." Continue reading →

Continue Reading‘Nut-free’ school zone decision upheld by Michigan Court of Appeals

Get ready for the ‘War on Sugar’

"The 'metabolic syndrome' maladies associated with insulin resistance and obesity – many authorities now just use the term 'diabesity' – are expected soon to overtake tobacco as the leading cause of heart disease in the world. And perhaps of cancer, too. Farmer Mike Small has high hopes for the campaign for a Scottish tax on sugar-sweetened beverages: he and his sustainable food campaign, the Fife Diet, will launch a new manifesto for it in September. Forms of sugar-sweetened beverage tax have already started in Denmark, France, Finland and Hungary. Scotland, Small says, is in the mood to follow." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGet ready for the ‘War on Sugar’

Oklahoma legislator wants to legalize raw milk delivery to homes

"A Tulsa legislator wants to loosen state regulations of raw milk dairies to allow them to deliver directly to consumers. 'Basically, my hope is that we can make milkmen legal again,' said Rep. Ken Walker, R-Tulsa. 'Since these customers already go to the farm, my sole purpose is to let the farmer deliver to the home.' Committee Chairman Dale DeWitt, R-Braman, said he is uncomfortable with some of the health risks that broadening the availability of raw milk would carry. 'The risk is very, very low, but if there was any kind of outbreak of anything from the distribution of raw milk, ... it would just literally kill the industry,' he said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOklahoma legislator wants to legalize raw milk delivery to homes

UN narcotics body warns Uruguay over marijuana bill

"The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) says it is concerned by the approval by Uruguayan MPs of a bill which would legalise marijuana. The INCB says the law would 'be in complete contravention to the provisions of the international drug treaties to which Uruguay is party'. The INCB is an independent body of experts established by the United Nations to monitor countries' compliance with international drug treaties. It says that, if adopted, it 'might have serious consequences for the health and welfare of the population and for the prevention of cannabis abuse among the youth'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUN narcotics body warns Uruguay over marijuana bill

Healthy girl confiscated from parents who smoked pot, given to murderous foster mother

"A little girl was confiscated from her loving parents because they smoked marijuana, and given away to a foster mother who put her into a coma and killed her. Alexandria Hill, age 2, succumbed to her injuries after being 'thrown to the ground.' 'We never hurt our daughter. She was never sick, she was never in the hospital, and she never had any issues until she went into state care,' said Joshua Hill, the girl's natural father. Hill says that his daughter was put in to more than one dangerous foster home." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHealthy girl confiscated from parents who smoked pot, given to murderous foster mother