"WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO: Pardon Edward Snowden. Edward Snowden is a national hero and should be immediately issued a a full, free, and absolute pardon for any crimes he has committed or may have committed related to blowing the whistle on secret NSA surveillance programs." Continue reading →
"The Village Voice reports that the quote was also printed on t-shirts worn by NYPD's infamous Street Crimes Unit, which was disbanded after shooting unarmed immigrant Amadou Diallo 41 times in 1999 as Diallo reached for his wallet. The Voice also reports that at least two NYPD police commissioners have used the phrase 'hunter of men' to describe police work -- Bernard Kerik and Howard Safir. There have been a number of other incidents over the years in which cops have donned t-shirts that reflect a mentality someone less lofty than 'protect and serve.'" Continue reading →
"Joseph Weekly, who shot 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones in the head during a home invasion on May 17, 2010, is free after a jury deadlocked. Nobody disputes that Weekly was the killer, or that Aiyana was an entirely innocent victim. Weekly was exonerated by virtue of the fact that his home invasion crew bore the insignia of the criminal syndicate that claims a monopoly on the legitimate use of force within Detroit. The Detroit Police Department’s Special Reaction Team (SRT) staged a midnight raid on the home where Aiyana was sleeping. This was done entirely for the benefit of a camera crew from a cable 'Reality TV' show called 'The First 48.'" Continue reading →
"A Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation deputy director warned residents that unfounded complaints about water quality could be considered an 'act of terrorism.' 'We take water quality very seriously. Very, very seriously,' said Sherwin Smith, deputy director of TDEC's Division of Water Resources, according to audio recorded by attendees. 'But you need to make sure that when you make water quality complaints you have a basis, because federally, if there's no water quality issues, that can be considered under Homeland Security an act of terrorism.' Smith went on in the recording to repeat the claim almost verbatim." Continue reading →
"You see, they take law and order Very Seriously in Washington. Oh, sure, there is murder, drugs and prostitution (and solicitation, but more on that later), but those crimes are a byproduct of any large metropolitan area, and, well, folks will be folks. No, I am talking about the unspeakable crime of trying to resell tickets to a Washington Nationals makeup baseball game. I went to jail. I sat in a cell for 2½ hours, stood for a mug shot, got fingerprinted, paid 50 bucks and was released. In the grand scheme of things, my travails were minor to all but me. But when that cell door slams shut, the world becomes a different place." Continue reading →
"Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden was charged with espionage, theft and conversion of government property by federal prosecutors. Snowden has been in hiding in Hong Kong since leaking details about the NSA’s surveillance activities over U.S. citizens’ phone and Internet usage. He told a Chinese newspaper on June 12 that the NSA’s activities also extended into Hong Kong and mainland China. Attorneys representing Wikileaks founder Julian Assange have reportedly reached out to Snowden’s lawyers to help him find asylum in Iceland. U.S. prosecutors also filed a 'provisional arrest warrant' asking Hong Kong police to arrest Snowden." Continue reading →
"Most Americans – 76% of them, in fact – have never heard of the DHS’s propaganda, 'See Something, Say Something.' Robert Jensen, DHS principal deputy assistant secretary in the office of public affairs, responded, 'We will continue to expand the campaign in the coming months and years.' Years. Years more of ham-fisted SS-SS. It's enough to send a gal screaming over the border. See something, say something…..isn’t this what Snowden and Manning have done? Should they not be lauded for following this directive? Ah, but mere serfs should never expect consistency from a police-state." Continue reading →
"The Washington know-it-alls have a solution to this dilemma: keep everything secret. So that even the law is itself a secret – or, at least, the government’s interpretation of it is kept under lock and key. Everything else about the mechanics of our emerging police state is also a secret: the internet companies forced to turn over their customers’ private accounts to government snoops are forbidden by law from saying anything about their interactions with Washington. They cannot tell a customer 'The government forced us to turn over your records.' If they choose to fight in court, they cannot publicize their fight. It is a mugging that happens in the dark." Continue reading →
"Corrections Corporation of America, the largest and most powerful private prison company in the nation, lost four prison contracts in the past month after extensive reports of abuse, neglect, and even fraud within their operations. Idaho cut ties with the corporation on Wednesday, which turned the state’s largest prison into a violent hellhole inmates called 'Gladiator School.' Earlier this year, CCA was caught understaffing the prison and using prison gangs to control the population. The company admitted to falsifying nearly 4,800 hours of staffing records to squeeze more money out of the state for nonexistent security work." Continue reading →
"If Congressional Republicans get their way, the 2,000-mile (3,200-km) border separating the US and Mexico will be equipped observation towers, surveillance drones and one guard every 1,000 feet (300 meters). The legislation would see the Obama administration create a path to citizenship for some 11 million undocumented immigrants. The security plan would station another 20,000 Border Patrol agents along the southern border, in addition to the 18,500 already there. The bill would also expand fencing and install a visa entry and exit system at seaports and international airports, among other costly features." Continue reading →