19 Insane Tidbits From Ex-Employee’s Lawsuit Against Google

"Details from diversity training sessions, accounts of alleged reverse discrimination, and screenshots of internal communications on company forums and message boards in the lawsuit cast the company culture as extremely hostile to employees with unpopular opinions, especially heterosexuals, men, white people, and those who hold conservative views."

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FBI director calls unbreakable encryption ‘urgent public safety issue’

"Tech companies and many cyber security experts have said that any measure ensuring that law enforcement authorities are able to access data from encrypted products would weaken cyber security for everyone. U.S. officials have said that default encryption settings on cellphones and other devices hinder their ability to collect evidence needed to pursue criminals."

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First France, Now Brazil Unveils Internet Censorship To Combat “Fake News”

"Police officials vow that they will proceed to implement the censorship program even if no new law is enacted. They insist that no new laws are necessary by pointing to a pre-internet censorship law enacted in 1983 — during the time Brazil was ruled by a brutal military dictatorship that severely limited free expression and routinely imprisoned dissidents."

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LAPD takes another step toward deploying drones domestically

"Advocates say camera-mounted drones could help protect officers and others by collecting crucial information during high-risk situations or searches without jeopardizing their safety. For many privacy advocates and police critics, however, the drones stir Orwellian visions of unwarranted surveillance or fears of militarized, weapon-toting devices patrolling the skies. LAPD brass, along with police commissioners, tried to ease those concerns last fall by promising careful restrictions on when the drones would be used, and strong oversight of the pilot program."

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Teacher arrested for bringing up admin salary at school board meeting

"The video then shows the woman on the floor in the hallway, where she is being handcuffed behind the back by the marshal. The marshal asks the teacher to 'stop resisting' and escorts her from the building. Outside the building, the marshal tells her she is being arrested for refusing to leave and resisting arrest. Fontana, the board president, told NBC News that Hargrave had violated meeting policies, by taking up extra time and asking questions during a public comment section."

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Dirt Boxes: The Newest Government Tool for Warrantless Privacy Invasion

"That plane flying overhead could very well be scooping up your most intimate data, especially if you live in Texas. The Texas National Guard has reportedly equipped two of its RC-26 military aircraft with cell phone data-collecting dragnets, known as dirt boxes. The ability of government agencies to add new modifications to their aerial surveillance capabilities without any real oversight should sound an alarm for all Americans, not just those who live in the Lone Star State."

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How Immigration Crackdowns Screw Up Americans’ Lives

"Although the U.S. has been illegally deporting citizens for over a century, the number started soaring when Congress eliminated the right to judicial review for criminal aliens in the 1996 Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act. The idea was to remove the barriers to ejecting immigrants who posed a danger to Americans. But the result was a general weakening of legal protections and the rise of an unaccountable immigration bureaucracy that itself has become a danger to Americans."

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Renewal of FISA Section 702 with ‘abouts’ collection slated for Thursday

"The powers in question allow the government to target foreigners overseas, collecting their communications. But Americans’ communications — even those in the U.S. — can be snared if they are part of conversations that the targets are having. The bill allows 'abouts' collection, which is when the government scoops up communications that mention a target, even if he or she isn’t the sender or receiver."

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James Bovard: Why Ruby Ridge Still Matters

"If the government is entitled to effectively label certain individuals or groups or notions as public enemies, it is naive to expect due process and fair play to follow. Ruby Ridge illustrates the folly of treating noxious ideas like ticking time bombs. The vast majority of devotees of deluded dogmas will be duds — unless the government detonates the scene."

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