Land Of The Flea

The FBI Ran a Child Porn Site for Two Whole Weeks

"The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Bureau agents posed as child porn dealers, actively distributing pornography while the site was under their control—just as other agencies perform sting operations with drugs and prostitution. It's not yet clear if the technique worked that well: in the two week period, the FBI attempted to identify 5,600 users who had shared over 10,000 images of children. What can, perhaps, be judged, is the ethical position of distributing child pornography to incriminate suspects. Is it worse than supplying drugs in a sting? Or is it fair game given the end result? What do you think?" Continue reading →

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Senator Schumer: Putin is behaving like a schoolyard bully

"A senior Democratic senator said on Sunday that the U.S.-Russia relationship had become 'poisonous' and urged President Barack Obama to consider moving next month’s Group of 20 summit away from the Russian city of St. Petersburg. Charles Schumer accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying to antagonize the United States by granting American fugitive Edward Snowden asylum for one year. 'President Putin is behaving like a schoolyard bully,' Schumer said on the CBS television talk show 'Face the Nation.' 'In my experience, I’ve learned unless you stand up to that bully, they ask for more and more and more.'" Continue reading →

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What Bradley Manning’s life will be like in military prison

"Bradley Manning faces the prospect of years of monotony with no Internet access in a small military prison cell but he would likely be allowed to mix with other inmates and exercise outdoors. The 25-year-old Manning, who has yet to be sentenced, would be able to nominate friends and relatives for visits pending official approval. A handshake, a brief kiss or a hug that does not involve touching below the waist are allowed during visits, and visitors and inmates may hold hands. Prisoners are allowed to telephone friends and family through payphones that may only be used at set times, but they are not permitted to send email or browse the Internet." Continue reading →

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Senator Chambliss: NSA program helped gather current ‘terror chatter’

"'There is an awful lot of chatter out there,' Senator Saxby Chambliss, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on NBC’s 'Meet the Press.' He said 'chatter' – electronically monitored communications among terrorism suspects about the planning of a possible attack – was 'very reminiscent of what we saw pre-9/11.' Chambliss said one of the surveillance programs revealed by former spy agency contractor Edward Snowden had helped. Those programs 'allow us to have the ability to gather this chatter,' he said. 'If we did not have these programs then we simply wouldn’t be able to listen in on the bad guys.'" Continue reading →

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The Ecuadorian Library: or, The Blast Shack After Three Years

"Snowden sure is a dissident defector, and boy is he ever. Americans don’t even know how to think about characters like Snowden — the American Great and the Good are blundering around on the public stage like blacked-out drunks, blithering self-contradictory rubbish. It’s all 'gosh he’s such a liar' and 'give us back our sinister felon,' all while trying to swat down the jets of South American presidents. These thumb-fingered acts of totalitarian comedy are entirely familiar to anybody who has read Russian literature. The pigs in Orwell’s 'Animal Farm' have more suavity than the US government is demonstrating now. Their credibility is below zero." Continue reading →

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Pentagon Papers Leaker Daniel Ellsberg Praises Snowden, Manning

"Ellsberg, then an analyst with the RAND Corporation, leaked a study of U.S.-Vietnam relations from 1945-1967, known colloquially as the Pentagon Papers, handing over the document to newspapers. The release of the Pentagon Papers proved politically embarrassing for President Richard Nixon and the Watergate break-in, which eventually led to Nixon's resignation, was part of a broader White House effort to identify the source of such leaks. Ellsberg was eventually charged with espionage, theft and conspiracy, but the charges were later dismissed, unlike the case of Army Private Bradley Manning." Continue reading →

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Why Do Bureaucrats Hate Bambi?

"I never thought I would have a special category about bureaucrats vs. Bambi. 1. Bureaucrats in Virginia filed three misdemeanor charges against a man for the horrible crime of rescuing a deer that was hit by a car. 2. Bureaucrats in Maryland fined two men $90 each for not having life jackets when they had the gall to rescue a deer that fell through some ice. 3. Bureaucrats in Indiana are threatening prison time for a family that rescued a baby deer from coyotes. The paper pushers of the world seem to harbor a special grudge against these harmless ruminants, since we now have another story about a baby deer. But this time, Bambi was the victim." Continue reading →

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Indianapolis “Officer of the Year” attacks man in under 16 seconds of conversation

"Brian Hudkins was disputing with hotel staff over the fact that unauthorized people had entered his hotel room. He was upset but not in any way aggressive. He even clasped his hands behind his back. That's when 'Officer of the Year' T. Michael Wilson and Brian Hudkins began interacting. Video shows that in only 16 seconds of talking to Hudkins, he inexplicably grabs him by the shoulders and tackles him violently to the ground. Hudkins had his hands behind his back during the entire body-slam maneuver. Hudkins suffered cuts and bruises, an injured shoulder, was denied medication, and has had his business and reputation suffer." Continue reading →

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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 →

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Police assault, bind Libertarian candidate for 3.5 hours in Detroit

"Scotty Boman, a candidate for Detroit clerk, was assaulted by police and left alone in handcuffs and without water in a closet-sized room for more than three hours for trying to take photos of what he considered unethical signs posted by incumbent Clerk Janice Winfrey. The math and physics professor at Wayne County Community College also was trying to hand out campaign literature. Boman said the officers laughed at him while he was stuck in handcuffs. By the time his camera was returned, incriminating video he took of the police was deleted. The officers, he said, threatened to arrest him if he brought the camera back to the campus." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPolice assault, bind Libertarian candidate for 3.5 hours in Detroit