Who Watches The Watchers

NSA routinely spied on phone records unrelated to terrorism cases

"US intelligence officials declassified documents Tuesday revealing the National Security Agency violated privacy rules for three years when it sifted phone records of Americans with no suspected links to terrorists. The government was forced to disclose the documents by a judge’s order after a Freedom of Information lawsuit. The NSA had been permitted by the court to only search phone numbers that had 'reasonable articulable suspicion' of having links to terrorism. But out of more than 17,000 numbers on a NSA list in 2009, the agency only had reasonable suspicion for about 1,800 of the numbers, two senior intelligence officials told reporters on Tuesday." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNSA routinely spied on phone records unrelated to terrorism cases

Richard Gage Talks Global ReThink 911 Campaign

"The engineers and architects who signed the ReThink911 petition question the physics and science of the collapse of the twin towers as defined by the US Government. These building professionals are being joined in their calls by a growing number of lawmakers in Washington. Former Senators Bob Graham and Mike Gravel have called for re-opening the 9-11 investigation. But most recently Alan Grayson of Florida. Grayson recently stated on CSPAN that classified 9/11 documents should be released." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRichard Gage Talks Global ReThink 911 Campaign

Plainclothes deputy in unmarked car pulls gun; 5 officers attack and tase brothers

"The use of Tasers against two brothers in Algiers last year by Jefferson Parish deputies – a confrontation partially caught on a cell phone video – is now the subject of a federal civil rights lawsuit. Casey and Sean Warren filed the suit last week against Sheriff Newell Normand and seven deputies in connection with the Sept. 9 police stop that resulted in both men being hit with Tasers multiple times. In the lawsuit, the brothers claim they were victims of a host of civil rights violations, including excessive force, unlawful arrest and improper seizure. The lawsuit also notes that the deputies were outside of their jurisdiction when they followed Casey Warren to his home in Algiers." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPlainclothes deputy in unmarked car pulls gun; 5 officers attack and tase brothers

New York Police Officer, Customs Officer Arrested For Trafficking Illegal Guns

"A New York Police Department officer and two of his brothers were arrested for allegedly trafficking high-powered firearms out of the United States and into the Philippines, federal law-enforcement officials announced on Friday. Rex Maralit, a 44-year-old officer assigned to police headquarters in Lower Manhattan, was arrested on charges of conspiring with his brothers to violate the Arms Export Control Act and engage in unlicensed firearms dealing, law-enforcement officials said. His brother, Wilfredo Maralit, 48, a Customs and Border Protection Officer at Los Angeles International Airport, was also arrested." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNew York Police Officer, Customs Officer Arrested For Trafficking Illegal Guns

Tulsa police officer arrested for engaging in prostitution

"A Tulsa police officer has been arrested for engaging in prostitution within 1000 feet of a church and having a gun while committing a felony. From Tulsa police we've been able to determine the investigation into Turner was a lengthy one. And it came to head Thursday when documents show he made contact with an undercover female officer and solicited sex for $40. We even tried talking with residents at the Executive Inn. Most said the story makes them lose faith in police, but they didn't want to go on camera. Turner's second charge involving a firearm is because when he arrested in this room, he was searched and police found a loaded gun on the off duty officer." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTulsa police officer arrested for engaging in prostitution

Video gambling ring arrests include councilman, police chief, ex-cops

"Mr. Melocchi's machines could be found in Allegheny, Fayette, Washington and Westmoreland counties, the presentment said. Operating out of a location in an alley behind a Glassport coffee shop, Mr. Melocchi placed the devices in various businesses and allegedly struck deals with the owners to split gambling proceeds. Video gambling machines are illegal if patrons pay to play, use more chance than skill to win, and are paid off. Business owners told the grand jury that they earned between $75 and $1,000 a week from the devices." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingVideo gambling ring arrests include councilman, police chief, ex-cops

Journal Explores Incentive For False Results In Lab Tests For DUI

"A recent analysis published in the Criminal Justice Ethics academic journal suggests when technicians perform forensic analysis of blood and other evidence for cases such as drunk driving, the results can be influenced by built-in financial incentives to produce a conviction, arguing that even if false conviction rates are very low, a 3 percent error rate could put 33,000 innocent individuals behind bars every year. The primary problem, according to the paper, is that fourteen states reward crime labs with a bonus for each conviction they generate. North Carolina pays a $600 bounty 'upon conviction' to the law enforcement agency whose lab 'tested for the presence of alcohol.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJournal Explores Incentive For False Results In Lab Tests For DUI

U.S. spy chief criticizes journalists for publishing anti-encryption efforts

"The office of the director of national intelligence (ODNI), which oversees the US’s intelligence agencies, suggested the stories, simultaneously published on the front pages of the New York Times and Guardian, were 'not news', but nonetheless provided a 'road map … to our adversaries'. Privacy groups, however, said the NSA’s activities were endangering privacy and putting both US internet users and businesses users at risk. 'Even as the NSA demands more powers to invade our privacy in the name of cybersecurity, it is making the internet less secure and exposing us to criminal hacking, foreign espionage, and unlawful surveillance,' said the ACLU’s principal technologist." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingU.S. spy chief criticizes journalists for publishing anti-encryption efforts

Former California cop arrested for raping prostitutes while in uniform

"A former police officer in Southern California was arrested Thursday for allegedly raping two prostitutes while he was in uniform or carrying his service gun, according to the Los Angeles Times. 'The charges in this case describe disgraceful abuses of police authority that simply cannot be tolerated in our society,' United States Attorney André Birotte Jr. said in a statement. Forty-six-year-old Jose Jesus Perez of Menifee, California was arrested without incident in Denton, Texas. A federal grand jury indicted Perez on four civil rights offenses, claiming the officer forced two women to have sex with him 'while acting under the color of law.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFormer California cop arrested for raping prostitutes while in uniform

How “Your” Government Works

"The Obama administration has announced the formation of a panel of “outside experts” to review the NSA’s surveillance practices. And a wide-ranging, diverse collection of experts they are; when it comes to institutional backgrounds and viewpoints, they span the entire spectrum from A to B. They remind me a bit of the space shuttle crew in an episode of The Simpsons: 'They’re a colorful bunch … There’s a mathematician, a different kind of mathematician, and a statistician.' If you think all this insider involvement in policy represents 'regulatory capture,' or the corruption of an originally pristine system by campaign money and lobbyists, you’re missing the point." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow “Your” Government Works