Archive for the 'Police State' Category
Assange: Google Is Not What It Seems
October 28th, 2014Via: Newsweek: It was also in 1999 that Schmidt joined the board of a Washington, D.C.–based group: the New America Foundation, a merger of well-connected centrist forces (in D.C. terms). The foundation and its 100 staff serve as an influence mill, using its network of approved national security, foreign policy and technology pundits to place […]
Pot Oil “Miracle in a Bottle” Cure Could Land Mom in Jail
October 28th, 2014The boy had pain so severe he didn’t want to live anymore. The pot oil helped him after 18 other medications didn’t. Now his mother is facing jail. Via: CBS: In March, one mother traveled to Colorado to get a bottle of cannabis oil in hopes of easing the agonizing pain her 15-year-old son has […]
Government Set Up A Fake Facebook Page In This Woman’s Name
October 23rd, 2014Via: BuzzFeed: The Justice Department is claiming, in a little-noticed court filing, that a federal agent had the right to impersonate a young woman online by creating a Facebook page in her name without her knowledge. Government lawyers also are defending the agent’s right to scour the woman’s seized cell phone and to post photographs […]
Virginia Police Have Been Secretively Stockpiling Private Phone Records
October 20th, 2014Via: Wired: While revelations from Edward Snowden about the National Security Agency’s massive database of phone records have sparked a national debate about its constitutionality, another secretive database has gone largely unnoticed and without scrutiny. The database, which affects unknown numbers of people, contains phone records that at least five police agencies in southeast Virginia […]
Meet the Prison Bankers Who Profit From the Inmates
October 1st, 2014Even by Cryptogon standards, this one is shocking. Via: Time: JPay and other prison bankers collect tens of millions of dollars every year from inmates’ families in fees for basic financial services. To make payments, some forego medical care, skip utility bills and limit contact with their imprisoned relatives, the Center for Public Integrity found […]
California Governor Vetoes Bill Limiting Drone Surveillance
September 30th, 2014Via: CBS: Gov. Jerry Brown has vetoed a bill that would have placed strict limits on law enforcement agencies using unmanned aerial drones for surveillance. The governor’s office announced that the bill was one of more than a dozen pieces of legislation he vetoed Sunday. AB1327 by Republican Assemblyman Jeff Gorrell of Camarillo would have […]
Los Angeles County Planning Massive Biometric Database
September 30th, 2014Via: KPCC: Without notice to the public, Los Angeles County law enforcement officials are preparing to widen what personal information they collect from people they encounter in the field and in jail – by building a massive database of iris scans, fingerprints, mug shots, palm prints and, potentially, voice recordings. The new database of personal […]
Mississippi Sued Over ‘Hellish’ Conditions in For-Profit Prison
September 29th, 2014Via: CommonDreams: Denial of food and medical care. Cells and floors soiled with blood, urine, and feces. Excessive force by prison guards. Weeks, months, and years in solitary confinement. These are the conditions found at a “special needs” for-profit prison, the East Mississippi Correctional Facility, which is tasked by the state’s department of corrections with […]
School Districts Got Military Gear from Pentagon
September 26th, 2014Via: CBS: A CBS News review shows campus police across the country have received millions of dollars worth of military gear from the Pentagon. Now, there are calls to halt those transfers, even though some agencies say the weapons are necessary. CBS News correspondent Manuel Bojorquez reports from the University of Texas, Arlington, that the […]
FBI Plans Rapid DNA Dragnets
September 24th, 2014Via: Nextgov: The FBI is preparing to accelerate the collection of DNA profiles for the government’s massive new biometric identification database. Developers of portable DNA analysis machines have been invited to a Nov. 13 presentation to learn about the bureau’s vision for incorporating their technology into the FBI’s new database. So-called rapid DNA systems can […]
