Kafkaesque

How the System Treats a Good Cop

"As a New York City Police Officer assigned to the 81st Precinct, Adrian Schoolcraft became disillusioned when supervisors talked about manipulating crime statistics and carrying out illegal arrests. Schoolcraft blew the whistle – and immediately paid a steep price. A police strike force raided Schoolcraft’s apartment and forcibly confined him to a mental ward at Jamaica Hospital under the care of Dr. Isak Isakov, supposedly to prevent him from harming himself. He was held there for six days. An internal investigation validated nearly all of Schoolcraft’s claims – yet nobody has ever been punished for his abduction and false imprisonment." Continue reading →

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Bush-era state secrecy expert: Presidents abuse power like in Kafka or Orwell novels

"William Leonard, who was entrusted with ensuring proper treatment of state secrets by government agencies in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, said that over the past decade both the Obama and the previous Bush administrations had manipulated their classification authority to create new executive powers without congressional oversight or judicial review. Leonard, the former head of the Information Security Oversight Office from 2002 to 2007, said that what was at stake was 'the abuse of the very form of government we are operating under, as unilateral executive powers go unchallenged.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBush-era state secrecy expert: Presidents abuse power like in Kafka or Orwell novels

Will Grigg: The Stalinist in the White House

"Until the filibuster staged by Senator Paul – who, despite his plentiful shortcomings, has proven that he has learned much from his heroic father – no Senate Republican had rejected the Stalinist premise that the President can order the summary execution of U.S. citizens. What about the Professional Left – the people who, like then-Senator Obama, were so agitated over the Bush administration’s crimes against the Bill of Rights? They’re too busy debating such weighty matters as the proper honorific by which to address the Dear Leader, or helping the Southern Poverty Law Center draw up 'kill lists' of domestic 'extremists.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWill Grigg: The Stalinist in the White House

Obama promised to close Guantánamo. Instead, he’s made it worse.

"The 44-year-old British resident and father of four has spent over 11 years incarcerated at Guantánamo despite being cleared for release as early as 2007. To this day never charged with a crime, Aamer is just one of hundreds of detainees who remain imprisoned in Guantánamo. Despite running on an explicit campaign promise to shut down the island prison which has become a symbol of the abuses of the 'war on terror', President Obama has continued to preside over its operation. And by recent accounts, under his tenure, the conditions for prisoners there – from both a physical and legal standpoint – have become markedly worse." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingObama promised to close Guantánamo. Instead, he’s made it worse.

Wendy McElroy: Only Places Have Rights?

"The queue of 'rights that depend on geography' is growing. Texting while walking has become the new social sin. Portland, Oregon just made it illegal for a man to whistle on public streets unless he keeps walking and, so, distributes the noise pollution. Bloomberg's ban on donations of food to homeless shelters because the city could not guarantee the salt, fat and fiber content. Bureaucrats want to yank rights out from under individuals and make them a matter of place, not people. All you need to do is be in the wrong place, and you have no rights. Speak out, drink a large soda, hand out literature, walk your dog, or whistle too long in one place…crime is everywhere." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWendy McElroy: Only Places Have Rights?

Imagining a Legal Basis for Obama’s Overseas Assassinations

"Thanks to someone who has reservations about Obama's murders and leaked it, we have a copy of a secret legal opinion that is supposed to lay out the conditions under which such presidentially-directed murders are legal. This heretofore secret document imagines a legal basis for Obama's overseas assassinations. Imagine is not quite the right word. It fantasizes such a basis. It makes it up by stringing together words that are supposed to make a plausible case. On inspection, however, this case collapses. It is rather like setting a wall on what is supposed to be concrete, but actually is pudding." Continue reading →

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Bradley Manning: 1,000 days in detention and secrecy still reigns

"There’s a much bigger reason why the cloak-and-dagger approach of the US government to this trial should be taken seriously. America doesn’t seem to have woken up to this yet, but the prosecution of Bradley Manning poses the greatest threat to freedom of speech and the press in this country in at least a generation. When one of the prosecution lawyers was asked whether the government would still have gone after Manning had he leaked to the New York Times instead of WikiLeaks, she unhesitatingly replied: 'Yes'. If that’s not a threat to the first amendment, then what is?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBradley Manning: 1,000 days in detention and secrecy still reigns

TechCrunch Founder: The Department Of Homeland Security Stole My Boat Today

"I live near Seattle and there’s a big boating culture up here. I found a small company that builds boats specifically for this area called Coastal Craft. I ordered it in 2011 and planned on writing about the experience after it was delivered. I named her Buddy. It has state of the art electronics and a fairly new highly efficient propulsion system that the TechCrunch audience would be interested in. Buying this boat was one of the worst decisions I’ve ever made, and the nightmare is only just starting. Today I’m going to write about how the Department of Homeland Security seized that boat." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTechCrunch Founder: The Department Of Homeland Security Stole My Boat Today

NYC’s Plan To Round Up Mentally Ill People Who Are Not Taking Court-Ordered Medication

"The NYPD is taking a more proactive approach to trying to prevent future crimes by people who are not receiving court-ordered mental health treatment. The city has come up with a list of 25 such individuals and, if found, they will be forced to receive treatment. Judge Andrew Napolitano weighed in on the city’s plan this morning on Fox and Friends, arguing that it is not the job of police to try to predict who might commit a crime based on how they are acting." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNYC’s Plan To Round Up Mentally Ill People Who Are Not Taking Court-Ordered Medication

Guantánamo commander admits listening devices eavesdropped on lawyer meetings with clients

"The battered credibility of the Guantánamo trials has been further dented by revelations of hidden microphones, intelligence service interference with court proceedings and protests from lawyers who say the US military is preventing a proper defence of the alleged organisers of the 9/11 attacks. In recent days, the commander of the Guantánamo prison, Colonel John Bogdan, was forced to admit on the witness stand that secret listening devices disguised as smoke detectors were installed in the cell where lawyers met their clients, and that he knew nothing about them." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGuantánamo commander admits listening devices eavesdropped on lawyer meetings with clients