Land Of The Flea

Rape victim Sara Reedy, accused of lying and jailed by U.S. police, wins $1.5 million payout

"The man entered the petrol station near Pittsburgh where she was working to pay her way through college and pulled a gun. He emptied the till of its $606.73 takings, assaulted her and fled into the night. But the detective who interviewed Reedy in hospital didn’t believe her, and accused her of stealing the money herself and inventing the story as a cover-up. Although another local woman was attacked not long after in similar fashion, the police didn’t join the dots. Following further inquiries, Reedy was arrested for theft and false reporting and, pregnant with her first child (by her now ex-husband), thrown in jail. She was subsequently released on bail, but lost her job." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRape victim Sara Reedy, accused of lying and jailed by U.S. police, wins $1.5 million payout

Suicide underscores grim conditions at Guantanamo

"The suicide of a Guantanamo inmate underscores the grim reality for detainees held there for nearly 11 years without charge or trial, with no end in sight to their imprisonment. Three months after Adnan Farhan Abdul Latif was found dead in his cell, the US Army formally declared his death to be a suicide — the seventh at the prison. How, Remes would like to know, did the prisoner manage to die at the tightly-controlled facility of a self-administered drug overdose, as the autopsy report cites as the cause? And how could an inmate suffering from acute pneumonia be languishing in a disciplinary cell without medical care?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSuicide underscores grim conditions at Guantanamo

‘Citizen Drone Warfare’: Hobbyist explores a frightening scenario

"Less than a month ago, rumors that celebrity news and gossip website TMZ was interested in obtaining a paparazzi drone prompted privacy concerns and public debate about the appropriate personal and commercial uses of unmanned aerial vehicles. Now, a new online video poses a more troubling question: What if civilian drones are equipped to shoot more than just pictures? Titled 'Citizen Drone Warfare' and posted to YouTube last week anonymously, a video shows a hobbyist drone equipped with a custom-mounted paintball pistol flying over a grassy field and peppering human-shaped shooting-range targets with pellets." Continue reading →

Continue Reading‘Citizen Drone Warfare’: Hobbyist explores a frightening scenario

An American Stasi

"America is building its American Stasi openly. Some parts of its operations will be open, and critical parts will be secret. Many Americans will support it. No matter whether the American Stasi is open or secret, each isolated American will face a powerful foe, even more powerful than the Stasi, in a one-sided contest whose outcome is predetermined. The captured Stasi files on East Germans are 65 miles long, excluding 16,000 sacks of shredded documents that are being reconstructed. The American Stasi's files will be, for all practical purposes, infinite, because of the advances in technology and information storage." Continue reading →

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Deputy pepper sprays, beats man with Down Syndrome

"His eyes stinging with pepper spray, a developmentally disabled 21-year-old man was hit and forced to the ground before being taken into custody by California sheriff's deputies. Antonio Martinez was taken to a hospital and detained for possible obstruction of justice, but there was no citation or charge filed on that or other counts. While trying 'to gain compliance and prevent a possible escape,' the deputy used pepper spray on Antonio Martinez. The deputy began using a baton as an agitated crowd approached. The deputy hit Antonio Martinez with it, forcing him to the ground, then levied 'a couple more strikes to get his hands free'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDeputy pepper sprays, beats man with Down Syndrome

Occupy activists sue Los Angeles over harsh treatment from police

"Activists with Occupy Los Angeles have filed suit against the city for what they allege was harsh police treatment as they were swept off City Hall grounds over a year ago. An estimated 1,400 officers drove about 300 demonstrators off the grounds on November 30, 2011; the activists had been camping out for eight weeks to support the Occupy Wall Street movement against economic inequality and wealth disparities. The activists claim they were denied food and water for hours while being detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center, at a jail in Van Nuys or on a bus to the detention center. Others allege they were refused access to bathroom facilities." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOccupy activists sue Los Angeles over harsh treatment from police

NYPD to Start Searching Internet for Pre-Crime Shooters

"Big brother just gets bigger and bigger. They take advantage of any event to grow. The NYPD intends to create algorithms that scan the text of conversations in chat rooms, social media and emails for clues on potential ‘apolitical or deranged killers’. NYPD Police Chief Raymond Kelly said in a statement: 'The goal would be to identify the shooter in cyberspace, engage him there and intervene, possibly using an undercover to get close, and take him into custody or otherwise disrupt his plans.' This is particularly bizarre since it appears that Adam Lanza, the shooter at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, didn't leave any kind of Facebook or Twitter clues." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNYPD to Start Searching Internet for Pre-Crime Shooters

Indefinite Detention Without Trial: Completely Unconstitutional, Yet Routine

"Seattle residents Matt Duran and Katherine Olejnik have been imprisoned in the SeaTac Federal Detention Center for weeks. Neither of them has been indicted, arraigned, or even arrested for a crime. They have been imprisoned for civil contempt by a federal prosecutor for refusing to answer personal questions during a secretive grand jury investigation of other people in the Occupy movement. Olejnik exercised her constitutionally protected right to remain silent. That is why she was sent to prison on the orders of U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones. Duran’s case is nearly identical. They may remain in prison until 2014." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingIndefinite Detention Without Trial: Completely Unconstitutional, Yet Routine

Records show FBI monitored ‘Anarchist’ Occupy Wall Street protests

"Newly-released records show the Federal Bureau of Investigations used counter-intelligence measures to monitor several Occupy Wall Street protests, at times labeling their actions as 'Anarchist' and investigating them as potential domestic terrorists. The documents, which were obtained by the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund in redacted form, show that the bureau began monitoring the movement as early as August 2011, when Occupy was establishing itself in Zuccotti Park in New York City. The fund’s director, Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, said the findings prove authorities overstepped their bounds in gathering information against lawful protesters." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRecords show FBI monitored ‘Anarchist’ Occupy Wall Street protests

U.S. Passport as Instrument of Control

"Career civil servant Ruth B. Shipley acted as chief of the Passport Division of the U.S. State Department from 1928 to 1955. Shipley personally reviewed every passport application, and prior to 1958 Supreme Court decision, her actions were subject to no judicial review. Shipley denied passports to Paul Robeson, Arthur Miller, Linus Pauling, and 'many other' Americans during the 1950s. Kahn’s article explores how Shipley acquired such power and how the US passport became an instrument to prevent rather than permit travel." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. Passport as Instrument of Control