Orwellian

Florida City Caught Issuing 1645 Camera Tickets On Shortened Yellow

"In St. Petersburg, Florida, the yellow time at intersections was shortened by fractions of a second for thousands of drivers, enabling the red light camera program to generate an extra $259,910 in revenue in 13 months. The data show at seven city intersections, the yellow time dropped between 0.1 and 1.1 seconds for some tickets from the date the cameras started ticketing. St. Petersburg depends heavily on split-second timing misjudgment. The city generated 45 percent of its revenue -- $2,128,576 -- from tickets generated in a half-second or less after the light turns red. In the first three-tenths of a second, 31 percent of the city's tickets were issued." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFlorida City Caught Issuing 1645 Camera Tickets On Shortened Yellow

Death of man beaten by North Chicago police classified as homicide

"Lake County Coroner Thomas Rudd has reversed his office’s ruling from 'undetermined' to 'homicide' in the case of a man who died after North Chicago police restrained him, hit him with batons and shocked him with a Taser. Rudd said the blows 45-year-old Darrin 'Dagwood' Hanna absorbed from police batons initiated the string of medical events that caused his death in November 2011. The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office in March 2012 declined to charge any of the officers involved, saying they used 'reasonable force' after responding to a domestic incident. One officer was later fired in connection with the incident and another was suspended for 30 days." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDeath of man beaten by North Chicago police classified as homicide

Police spies slept with, abandoned female targets on taxpayer dime

"It was not unusual for undercover operatives working for the SDS or its sister squad, the national public order unit, to have sexual relationships with women they were spying on. Of the 11 undercover police officers publicly identified, nine had intimate sexual relations with activists. Most were long-term, meaningful relationships with women who believed they were in a loving partnership. It was all standard procedure for the SDS. Some operatives ended their deployments by pretending to have a breakdown and vanishing, supposedly to go abroad, sending a few letters to their girlfriends with foreign postmarks." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPolice spies slept with, abandoned female targets on taxpayer dime

U.S. diplomat warns of global effort to curb Internet freedom

"A number of countries are aggressively trying to control the Internet, a top US diplomat cautioned Thursday, insisting Washington would give no ground when it comes to curbing freedoms on the Web. The fact that many countries appeared to be investing heavily, 'billions and billions of dollars', in next generation surveillance technologies was an indication of their intentions to clamp down on Internet freedoms, Ross warned. The clamp-down was coming amid a clear shift of power all over the world from governments and other state hierarchies towards citizens and networks of citizens, he said." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. diplomat warns of global effort to curb Internet freedom

Texas proposes one of nation’s “most sweeping” mobile privacy laws

"Privacy experts say that a pair of new mobile privacy bills recently introduced in Texas are among the 'most sweeping' ever seen. If passed, the new bills would establish a well-defined, probable-cause-driven warrant requirement for all location information. That's not just data from GPS, but potentially pen register, tap and trace, and tower location data as well. Such data would be disclosed to law enforcement 'if there is probable cause to believe the records disclosing location information will provide evidence in a criminal investigation.' Further, the bills would require an annual transparency report from mobile carriers to the public and to the state government." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTexas proposes one of nation’s “most sweeping” mobile privacy laws

Air Force erases drone strike data amid criticisms

"Quietly and without much notice, the Air Force has reversed its policy of publishing statistics on drone strikes in Afghanistan as the debate about drone warfare hits a fever pitch in Washington. In addition, it has erased previously published drone strike statistics from its website." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAir Force erases drone strike data amid criticisms

Rand Paul’s Misplaced Celebration

"Neither Bush nor Obama have ever claimed the authority to assassinate innocent Americans. The authority they have always claimed has been to assassinate guilty Americans (and guilty foreigners)—that is, those people who are guilty of being terrorists. Well, guess who decides whether a person is a terrorist. You got it! The president makes that determination. And once he decides that a person is a terrorist in his global 'war on terrorism,' that’s the end of the discussion. Under our post-9/11 system of government, neither the president nor the military nor the CIA is required to explain, justify, or even acknowledge the assassination." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRand Paul’s Misplaced Celebration

McCain calls Paul, Cruz, Amash ‘wacko birds’ after CIA director filibuster

"Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is continuing to criticize his fellow Republicans for their filibuster of incoming CIA Director John O. Brennan over drone policy. In an interview with the Huffington Post, McCain referred to Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) as 'wackos.' McCain and Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) took strong exception to the filibuster, saying they support the possible use of drones to prevent terrorist attacks anywhere in the world. Some Republicans have privately worried that the high-profile stand, while garnering a lot of positive attention, will ultimately be bad for the party." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMcCain calls Paul, Cruz, Amash ‘wacko birds’ after CIA director filibuster

Ohio, Maryland Courts Address Speed Camera Due Process Concerns

"A Hamilton County, Ohio Court of Common Pleas judge put a stop to it on Thursday with a permanent injunction prohibiting photo radar contractor Optotraffic from issuing $105 photo tickets in the village of Elmwood Place. In Baltimore County, Maryland last month, a circuit court judge ruled that the county has been violating state law by paying Xerox a bounty for every ticket the private company drops in the mail. Judge Susan Souder ruled local jurisdictions cannot evade the ban on contingent fees simply by claiming that Xerox and other firms do not 'operate' the cameras." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOhio, Maryland Courts Address Speed Camera Due Process Concerns