Archive for the 'Dictatorship' Category
Saudi Arabia: Police Broke Up Protest; Used Stun Grenades, “Rubber or Live Bullets”
March 10th, 2011Monitoring… Via: Reuters: Saudi police used force to disperse a demonstration by minority Shi’ites on Thursday, injuring up to four people on the eve of a day of protests called for on social media, witnesses and activists said. Shots were heard near a protest by around 200 Shi’ites in the town of Qatif in Saudi […]
Florida: Proposed Legislation Would Make Photographing a Farm Without Permission a Felony
March 10th, 2011Via: New York Times: Photographers — perhaps including some ghosts from Farm Security Administration days — are astir at news of a bill introduced by State Senator Jim Norman of Florida that would make it a felony to take a picture of a farm without the owner’s permission: A person who photographs, video records or […]
GCHQ Staff Teach ‘Future Spies’ in Schools
March 10th, 2011Do the parents know about these activities? While this sort of indoctrination is standard operating procedure for all totalitarian states, here are some of the most terrifying examples of it that I’m aware of: — Russian Tax Police — Hitler Youth — Khmer Rouge Via: BBC: Schoolchildren as young as 12 are being introduced to […]
Amtrak Police Chief Bars Transportation Security Administration from Some Security Operations
March 10th, 2011Here’s the video that Amtrak Police Chief John O’Connor thought was a hoax: Via: Trains.com: In late February, the Transportation Security Administration took over the Amtrak station in Savannah, Ga., and thoroughly searched every person who entered. None of the passengers got into trouble, but the TSA certainly did — big time. Amtrak Police Chief […]
Sedgwick, Maine Declares Food Sovereignty
March 9th, 2011Via: The Complete Patient: On Saturday morning, Sedgwick became likely the first locale in the country to pass a “Food Sovereignty” law. It’s the proposed ordinance I first described last fall, when I introduced the “Five Musketeers”, a group of farmers and consumers intent on pushing back against overly aggressive state food regulators. The regulators […]
Prison Labor Used to Build Parts for Patriot Missiles
March 9th, 2011Via: Wired: This spring, the United Arab Emirates is expected to close a deal for $7 billion dollars’ worth of American arms. Nearly half of the cash will be spent on Patriot missiles, which cost as much as $5.9 million apiece. But what makes those eye-popping sums even more shocking is that some of the […]
Black 9/11: A Walk on the Dark Side
March 9th, 2011Via: Foreign Policy Journal: In his important 2006 book, Nemesis, the Last Days of the American Republic, the third and concluding part of a trilogy, the late Chalmers Johnson, who was an expert on Japan and US foreign policy, writes that as much as 40% of the Pentagon budget is “black,” meaning hidden from public […]
Libraries May Lend HarperCollins E-Books Just 26 Times… Before Having to Pay Again
March 9th, 2011Via: ABC News: In what is shaping up to be a major battle over e-book lending, librarians across the country have banded together to boycott HarperCollins after the publisher decided it would limit the number of times an e-book can be checked out. Under a new policy started Monday, HarperCollins will allow libraries lend out […]
Secret FBI, CIA Documents, Sex Videos Found at Egypt’s Secret Police HQ
March 9th, 2011Via: Gizmodo: This mountain of shredded paper taking over several rooms was found inside the Egyptian Secret Police’s headquarters in Cairo on March 5, when hundreds of angry people invaded it. They called this day their Bastille Day. An enraged population liberated prisoners still in their isolation cells, no larger than phone booths. In the […]
Private Contractor Detains Drivers on Florida Turnpike if They Pay a Toll with a $50 or $100 Bill
March 7th, 2011I wonder if anyone has ever called the police, using a mobile phone, after being illegally detained as described below? Even by Florida standards, this is a keeper. Via: Courthouse News Service: A federal class action claims Florida and a private contractor detain drivers on the Florida Turnpike if they pay a toll with a […]
