Police State

Wisconsin Capitol police tackle man for photographing progressive protest

"A photographer and activist was aggressively arrested at the Wisconsin Capitol on Monday during a daily singalong protest. Video of the incident uploaded to YouTube showed two police officers approaching Damon Terrell, who can be heard saying, 'This is not illegal.' As Terrell backed away, one of the officers grabbed him. Terrell ended up on the ground with three officers on top of him. Another video uploaded to YouTube showed four officers carrying Terrell out of the rotunda by his arms and legs. Christopher J. Terrell, Damon’s brother, was also arrested for participating in the 'Solidarity Sing Along' demonstration in the Capitol." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWisconsin Capitol police tackle man for photographing progressive protest

Wisconsin Capitol police tackle man for photographing progressive protest

"A photographer and activist was aggressively arrested at the Wisconsin Capitol on Monday during a daily singalong protest. Video of the incident uploaded to YouTube showed two police officers approaching Damon Terrell, who can be heard saying, 'This is not illegal.' As Terrell backed away, one of the officers grabbed him. Terrell ended up on the ground with three officers on top of him. Another video uploaded to YouTube showed four officers carrying Terrell out of the rotunda by his arms and legs. Christopher J. Terrell, Damon’s brother, was also arrested for participating in the 'Solidarity Sing Along' demonstration in the Capitol." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWisconsin Capitol police tackle man for photographing progressive protest

Chicago ‘Safe Passage’ routes put to test amid more shootings

"Six hundred newly hired Safe Passage workers in yellow vests fanned out early Monday along 53 new routes marked with bright yellow 'Safe Passage' signs. The new routes are an expansion of an already existing program that Emanuel has touted as a success. The routes, released less than three weeks ago, are meant to offset any hazards that could arise as children walk unfamiliar sidewalks and, many parents worry, cross gang boundaries to get to their new schools. The program has garnered negative news coverage for what critics say is an ill-thought-out plan that was hatched at the last minute. CPS approved in June the closure of 49 elementary schools and a high school program." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChicago ‘Safe Passage’ routes put to test amid more shootings

TSA-Type Drama at U.S. Open

"The USTA has implemented new safety procedures for this year’s tournament. All fans will have to go through metal detectors for the first time. As WCBS 880′s Peter Haskell reported, the additional security checks had some fans lined up waiting to enter the grounds for up to two hours earlier Monday. The Associated Press reported that the lines snaked for a quarter mile or more — from the exit point of the No. 7 train to the east entrance of the Billie Jean King Tennis Center. 'This is terrible, this is horrible. I’ve been going to the US Open for the last 10 years, I’ve never seen it like this,' one fan told Haskell." Continue reading →

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Ohio Announces Drivers License Database Facial Recognition

"Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced Monday that the state has for several months been using facial recognition technology in a database that allows law enforcement agents to match a face with a name, address and record at will. The system was activated on June 6 and has already been used 2667 times so far. DeWine back then thought the program was a natural extension of existing law enforcement capabilities and was not worth announcing. That changed when former intelligence community contractor Edward Snowden kicked off a firestorm of controversy by revealing the extent of NSA collection of domestic emails and telephone records." Continue reading →

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Retiring FBI director warns ‘the threat is still here’

"He took the reins of the FBI a week before the attacks of September 11, 2001. Twelve years later, Robert Mueller is retiring, convinced that 'the threat is still here.' At the time, 2,000 out of 11,000 special agents were immediately transferred from fighting crime to combatting Al-Qaeda. Since then, the number of intelligence analysts at the FBI has more than tripled. Telephone and Internet surveillance programs are 'tremendously important,' Mueller explained. He was in the top FBI post for the second longest period after J. Edgar Hoover, who held it for 48 years until his death." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRetiring FBI director warns ‘the threat is still here’

Don’t Fly During Ramadan

"No matter how I’ve tried to rationalize this in the last week and a half, nothing can block out the memory of the chilling sensation I felt that first morning, lying on my air mattress, trying to forget the image of large, uniformed men invading the sanctuary of my home in my absence, wondering when they had done it, wondering why they had done it. In all my life, I have only felt that same chilling terror once before - on one cold night in September twelve years ago, when I huddled in bed and tried to forget the terrible events in the news that day, wondering why they they had happened, wondering whether everything would be okay ever again." Continue reading →

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Guantanamo Bay Authorities Ban Solzhenitsyn’s ‘The Gulag Archipelago’

"The legal team for Shaker Aamer, a British resident who has been detained in Guantanamo without charge or trial for 11 years, attempted to deliver a copy of The Gulag Archipelago by Alexander Solzhenitsyn during a recent visit. Of course, this isn't the first time that 'The Gulag Archipelago' has had problems with the authorities: when it was completed in 1968, it had to be smuggled out of the Soviet Union on microfilm so that it could be published in the West." Continue reading →

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Bar Shares Scanned ID Card Data with Cops

"Across the country, citizens are surprised and sometimes outraged by increasing demands by businesses and government to submit to the instant capture and downloading of all of the data contained on their driver’s licenses and ID cards as a condition for access. You might wonder what your data is being used for after it is taken. The article below gives one example of how your once lowly driver’s license that is now empowered with machine readable technology (RFID or 2D barcodes) and your facial biometrics, is performing exactly as designed. These technologies are designed to make you easier to track, monitor and control." Continue reading →

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The Real, Terrifying Reason Why British Authorities Detained David Miranda

"Those in power were angry and impulsively acted on that anger. They're lashing out: sending a message and demonstrating that they're not to be messed with -- that the normal rules of polite conduct don't apply to people who screw with them. That's probably the scariest explanation of all. Both the U.S. and U.K. intelligence apparatuses have enormous money and power, and they have already demonstrated that they are willing to ignore their own laws. Once they start wielding that power unthinkingly, it could get really bad for everyone." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Real, Terrifying Reason Why British Authorities Detained David Miranda